


buttercup

by cherijaemin



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Broke Jisung, Crack, Dialogue Heavy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff, Gay, Homophobia, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, Im bad at writing, M/M, Minor Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Minor Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Lee Jeno, Oblivious Na Jaemin, Park Jisung (NCT) is Whipped, Park Jisung Takes Care Of Zhong Chen Le, Protective Park Jisung (NCT), Sad Zhong Chen Le, Stressed Zhong Chen Le, Zhong Chen Le Is A Brat, Zhong Chen Le Needs a Hug, chenle gets kicked out of his house cause his parents are homophobic and they find out hes gay, chenle is a liar, chenle is also afraid, chenle is not okay, i cant believe that im writing this fanfiction in the middle of class this is so EMBARRASSING, idk - Freeform, jisung is a closeted gay, jisung is so whipped for chenle omg, jisung is weak for chenle, jisung used to be a fuckboy but chenle changed his ways, not yet tho, park jisung is popular, seriously there is way too much dialogue, so he sleeps in jisungs unused car, there are way too many tags what am i doing, they go to a homophobic school, this is so bad, uwu boyfriends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21727108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherijaemin/pseuds/cherijaemin
Summary: where chenle's very homophobic parents find out he's gay and kick him out of the house. chenle, having no friends and nowhere to go, camps out in a random person's car.jisung decides that he finally wants to clean up that dirty, grimy, unsued car of his (well, more like his mom's). what happens when he wipes the windshield down and in the back seat in a very scared, very pretty boy?
Relationships: Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 34
Kudos: 154





	1. go

**Author's Note:**

> dont know where this idea came from but i love it

Chenle was sitting on his bed, minding his own business when he heard two knocks at the door. 

“Come in!” he called, sitting up straight and pulling his sweatshirt over his head. His mom popped her head in, a complete steel expression on her face. Worried, Chenle rose to his feet. 

“Chenle, I think we need to talk,” she said, eyes cold and voice sharp. 

“About what?” he asked. 

“Just come to the dining hall.” she snapped back. 

Chenle didn’t know what he did wrong, but all he knew was that he wanted to apologize for it. So, he walked down their lavish stairs, trailing closely behind his mother. When they reached the dining hall, Mom sat down next to Dad (i’m too lazy to keep saying chenle’s mom soooo,,, that’s what im gonna do) and motioned for Chenle to sit in front of them.

Chenle gulped and did as he was told, looking at them with fright in his eyes.

“Chenle,” Dad started, “Are you _gay_?” he spat out the last word like it was poison, glaring at his son. 

Chenle laughed nervously but denied it. “Of course not! Where would you hear such a bogus thing from?” Chenle couldn’t look them in the eye, knowing he was lying so blatantly like this. 

“Oh, only your _twitter account_. You know, the one where you spew about, ‘Oh, my God! That boy is so cute!’ or, ‘Wow, he’s so hot, I’d let him date me any day,’” Mom said bitterly. 

“I-I don’t have a twitter,” Chenle looked down at his lap, playing with his shaking fingers. 

“Are you sure?” Dad pulled up his account, examining all the minor details. He noticed the same wallpaper of his room in one of his selcas, noticed how the way Chenle typed was the same was when he texted them.

“That-” Chenle tried not to let out a sob. “Yes, that’s my account… and yes, I _am_ gay. What’s wrong with being gay?”   
  


“Chenle,” Mom grabbed his shoulder and pulled him closer to them, nearly growling. She was seething in anger. “I will not accept any homosexuals in this household. So, you can either stop yourself from liking guys or…” she stopped to giggle at herself. 

“Or what?” he responded, finally bringing his head up to gaze back at his parents. 

“Or you can go live elsewhere,” Dad barked, standing up and sending his chair flying into the wall behind them. 

“I’m not going to stop liking boys,” Chenle said meekly, standing up as well. “And I’m going to stay here. You guys will accept me for who I am and you _will love me_.” 

“No! You don’t get to make the rules around here! You said you’re not going to stop liking boys, right? Then you can get the fuck out of here. Go. I don’t want to see your face _ever_ again,” and those were the words that ultimately brought tears to Chenle’s eyes. He took off up the stairs, slammed his door open, packed a change of clothes, his electronics, and a toothbrush in his schoolbag, along with his school books. He didn’t want to leave, but he was going to have to. They were going to do bad things to him if he stayed and he _knew_ it. He knew it all too well. 

So he left. He sprinted down the street, not able to see because of the tears in his eyes. He ran for a long time, too sad to stop. When the tears had finally begun to die down, he saw strong, bright, heavy lights fill his vision, then suddenly he was on the floor, pain beating through his hands and legs. 

“Ouch,” he groaned, pulling himself up. He was pretty sure he got hit by a motorcycle, but any evidence of that was gone now. The street was vacant, no one in sight. His right hand was completely bloodied, the flesh torn and mangled. His left knee was grated down to the bone. (that’s an exaggeration, but he was bleeding A LOT and he couldn’t see.) Chenle stood up, not sure where he was. He couldn’t be more but a 10 to 15-minute walk from his house, but he had never seen this street before. The houses were small, most of them looked a bit worn down. Night had fallen, and the stars gleamed in the sky almost mockingly. The bag on his shoulder felt especially heavy, so he decided to camp out for the night. 

His eyes turned to the house on his right; there were 2 cars in the driveway. One was at the bottom of it, with dust and grime accumulating on the windshield so you could barely see through the class. It was pretty beat up but it looked warm enough. The 2nd one was poking out of the garage, brand new blue paint and shimmering side-view mirrors. 

Chenle, with his impeccable lock-picking skills, had managed to unlock the first car and climb into the back seat. It was a small, 5 seat car, but it was cozy. He closed the car dar quietly, then stared into the void. 

What the hell was he supposed to do now? He had nowhere to go, he had broken into someone’s car for warmth, he had left all of his money at home, and there was nowhere to charge his phone. He opened up the said phone and checked the battery percentage. _56%_. 

“Shit,” Chenle breathed out. He didn’t usually cuss. Actually, this was his first time cussing _ever_. Tears sprung back to his eyes as he curled up, crying himself to sleep. 

In his dream, he was happy. He dreamed about his parents accepting his gayness, accepting his liking of boys, and accepting _him_. He dreamed about receiving love from them, getting kisses and hugs left and right. He dreamed of having friends (they also left him when they found out he was gay.), having someone to talk to except the internet. He dreamed of hearts and sparkles, cute outfits, styled hair, and pink. 

When he woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. His tears had dried, but he didn’t feet any better. He checked the time, found it was 5 past 12, and whispered a soft, “crap!” 

He kicked open the door and googled his way to school, finally getting there at 12:30. 3rd block had just started, and his class was getting ready to go to lunch in 20 minutes. He ran through the courtyard and reached the small strip building, B, and threw open the doors. He knocked frantically on the classroom door, panting. 

“Zhong Chenle,” Mr. Lee said firmly as Chenle stepped through the doors. Everyone’s eyes were on him. “Why in the world are you late? Your class before this is only about a minute away. You have a 5 minute break time.”

“I’m not coming from another class… I’m just late,” he responded quietly. 

“Hm… okay… Give me a pass next time. I’ll let this go since it’s your first time being late,” 

Chenle sat down in his spot and laid his notebook out on the table. He couldn’t focus all period, didn’t have any lunch, and pretty much suffered the whole day. He was going to die soon and he _knew_ it. If he didn’t have any food, how was he supposed to survive?

The boy sitting next to him, Chenle thought his name was Daehwi, tapped on his shoulder. Chenle turned to face him and almost melted. The boy was holding out some triangle gimbap, smiling. 

“I noticed you didn’t eat anything at lunch today,” said Daehwi. “So, make sure you eat this discretely. Mr. Lee might beat your ass if he sees you. Keep it on the down-low.” Daehwi winked at him, then went back to doing his work. 

Without even thinking about it, Chenle stuffed the food into his mouth, wolfing it down like a dog that hadn’t eaten for 3 days. He, of course, being Chenle, made a lot of noise. But somehow, Mr. Lee didn’t hear. And if he did, he didn’t show it. He just continued on with the lesson. 

4 hours later, and Chenle was out of school. He made his way back to the house, noticing a tall, lanky boy walking the same way as him. He glanced over at him multiple times, and every time, they’d make the same turn. Worried that Chenle was weirding the boy out, he turned the wrong corner, waiting behind a house for 10 minutes before continuing on his way. 

He camped out in the same car again that night, lonely, hungry, and dejected. 


	2. soft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jisung finds chenle in the back of his car, sobbing, frail, and tiny-looking. he decides to take him in.

4 days later, and Chenle’s phone had died. None of his teachers let him charge it in class, and instead asked him why in the world he had been wearing the same outfit since Tuesday, and why he looked a mess. Chenle merely laughed it off and told them that it was because his parents were off on a business trip and he just couldn’t take care of himself. 

He sat back in his seat and started to nod off, having gotten approximately three (3) hours of sleep throughout the past 4 days. His head fell onto the desk with a loud thump, but he didn’t wake up. 

Only a few more classes and he’d get to go home. Well, go to  _ someone else’s  _ home. He wasn’t sure who it was, but it didn’t matter as long as he wasn’t caught. So he went home slowly, starved from 2 days of not eating. His scalp was itchy and flaky from not showering and his hair was greasy and disgusting-looking. If people actually noticed him at school, he would care more about what he looked like. But at this point, he didn’t care about anything anymore. All he wanted to do was sleep, yet he couldn’t even do that. His mind kept replaying that fateful day, the day he was thrown out to the curb like a trash bag. 

Now he was inside of the car, the usual warmth gone. He was shivering; which was normal, because hell, who wouldn’t on a cold December day when they had only a t-shirt and jeans on?

Chenle froze when he heard the front door of the house creak open. It shut just as fast as it came open, and a deep voice rang through the neighborhood. “Time to finally clean that car! I guess we’ll be selling it soon, then…” 

Oh my  _ fuck _ . Oh shit. Fuck shit fuck shit fuck shit fuck shit. Chenle was so fucking screwed. What was he supposed to do? Hide? Well, there was nowhere to hide, only in front of the seats where he could still moderately be seen. 

The boy unlocked the car Chenle was in with his keys. Now Chenle was shaking even harder, but not from the cold. If he got caught, would they make him leave? Where was he supposed to go after that? Would the boy think he was stealing and knock him out? Would he call the police? What if he had to go to jail —

Then all the dust and dirt from the windshield were washed away, leaving Chenle exposed. He locked eyes with the boy who was washing the car, tears already escaping his eyes. 

“ _ Gosh dang it, Chenle. Looking weak in front of the owner of the car you broke into. Nice going, buddy. _ ” he thought to himself. He started sobbing immediately, not able to bear it anymore. He felt like such a fuck up. He couldn’t do anything right. 

Almost as soon as Chenle started crying, the back door was forcefully wrenched open. The boy stared at Chenle with an unreadable expression on his face. He reached a hand out to him, crouching slightly so he could be seen better.

"What in the hell are you doing in my car?" the boy asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

"I-" Chenle hiccuped. "I-I… please just let me stay longer," he sobbed. "I-I have nowhere l-left to go, please let me stay," 

The boy stared at him. "I'm Jisung," he took one of Chenle's hands and pulled him out of the car and into his arms. 

"J-Jisung," Chenle cried loudly.

"I thought you said you were gonna be quiet?" Jisung said, a teasing tone in his voice. Chenle looked up at him, whimpering like a lost child. “I guess you can stay,” Jisung murmured. He let go of the boy before him and looked down at the floor. “Just not in the car. You can sleep in the garage. How old are you?” 

“I’m 17,” Chenle breathed out. 

“I’m about to turn 17 in a couple of…” Jisung trailed off mid-sentence, noticing how he was shivering. “Let’s go inside. But I can’t let my parents know about you, they’ll beat my ass if they have to start paying for another person in the house,” Jisung lead Chenle to the front door, awkward silence filling the air. Chenle was still sobbing boomingly, clinging onto Jisung’s arm. “My parents aren’t home right now cause they’re at work, but when they do get home, hide and be quiet. Can you promise me that you’ll do that?” 

Chenle nodded and attempted to suck up his tears, following Jisung inside the small, homy house. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Zhong… Zhong Chenle,” he wiped his snot on the hem of his shirt, looking up into Jisung’s eyes. 

“Oh, you’re a foreigner? Where are your parents?”

Chenle smiled sadly. “They kicked me out of the house 5 days ago. I’ve been sleeping in your car since then… I’m sorry.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking, why were you kicked out?”

“Not gonna tell you,” Chenle squirmed uncomfortably under Jisung’s watchful gaze, playing with his fingers. “But… can I… can I take a shower, please? And if there’s anything I could eat… I haven’t eaten in such a long time,”

Jisung couldn’t help but pity the boy. Usually, he would immediately call the police if he found someone in his car, but he couldn’t resist those pleading puppy dog eyes, and how small and frail Chenle looked as he cried. 

“Take a shower first. You kinda smell… like, really bad. Here, I’ll go get you a towel. The bathroom’s the third room on the right in that hall right there,” Jisung pointed to the hall next to him the proceeded in the other direction. Chenle stood there for a second before following Jisung’s directions, finding himself in the bathroom a few seconds later. He quickly stripped himself, feeling sparks when the cold air met his pale skin. Now that he had rid himself of those disgustingly dirty clothes, he felt a lot better. He felt as though he could finally breathe even though his nose was stopped up and he most definitely could not breathe. 

Jisung opened the door and threw a towel on the floor, not even bothering to knock. 

“Oh!” Chenle exclaimed, startled. He tried to cover himself up with his hands, but Jisung had already seen. 

“Oh,” a small smirk made its way onto Jisung face as he turned away, closing the door behind him. 

Chenle, not knowing what to think, just hopped in the shower and washed as he pleased. When he got out of the shower, he wrapped the towel around his shoulders, dripping wet. 

“Jisung?” he called out shyly, not wanting to be a burden for what he was about to ask. “I’m sorry if it’s too much to ask, but could I… could I maybe borrow some clothes? It’s only for today, I swear!” Chenle stepped onto the bathroom onto the hardwood floor and searched for Jisung. When he was nowhere to be found, he started to get a bit worried. 

"Jisung?" he shouted, a bit more edge to his voice. "Jisung?" his eyes started to fill with tears. What if this really wasn't Jisung's house and he was trying to hurt him? What if Jisung wasn't his real name? What if Jisung had abandoned him like his parents?

Jisung came into his field of vision and he instantly calmed down.

“Woah, woah, why are you crying? What’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself? I’m here now, it’s okay.” Jisung patted Chenle’s wet head delicately. 

“I slipped while I was in the shower…” Chenle noticed Jisung’s eyes falling down his body, probably examining the blood-dried wounds on his leg and hand. 

“Holy shit, Chenle, just how bad was your fall?” Jisung crouched down and put his hand on the back of Chenle’s knee and brought his face closer to the scraped up skin. 

“That… that wasn’t from when I fell… While I was running from my parents I think I got hit by a motorcycle,” Chenle stepped away from Jisung, refusing to meet his gaze. 

“And you’re just  _ now  _ telling me about this?” Jisung stood up and grabbed Chenle’s shoulder. 

“I didn’t think it was important!” 

“Chenle…” Jisung pursed his lips. “Get changed. Then I’ll patch those up for you, is that okay?”

“Yes… it’s fine,” Jisung took hold of Chenle’s arm and walked him to his room, sitting the smaller boy on the bed and placing the clothes he had brought for him on his lap. 

“I’ll be right back with the first aid kit,”

Chenle stood up abruptly, feeling guilty and a bit ashamed. “No, wait, you really don’t have to! I’m fine, I promise, Jisung,”

“I’m not going to listen to you. Sooner or later those will just get infected,” Jisung deadpanned, walking out of the room. Chenle just sighed, defeated, sitting back down on the bed. He dried himself off and slipped the shirt over his head, liking how big it was on him. He felt small in Jisung’s clothes. 

“Are you finished changing?” Jisung asked, knocking on the door. 

“Yes, you can come in now…” 

Jisung sauntered into the room, a big white box in hand. He kneeled in front of Chenle and cleaned the wounds, holding down Chenle’s thigh because he kept trying to kick him. 

Chenle stared down at the hand on his thigh. “You have big hands,” Chenle poked at his knuckles. “You’re pretty lucky,” 

“Most people tell me it’s weird and disproportionate,” Jisung said absentmindedly, focused on treating Chenle. 

“I think it’s cool—ah, ah! Not there, please, not there,” Chenle’s face scrunched together in pain, but Jisung didn’t mind him and just kept at it with the antiseptic, squeezing Chenle the hardest he could to get him to focus on the pain in his thigh instead of the pain on his shin. 

Once he had finished with his leg, he got on the bed and lifted Chenle’s hand to his face. “Damn, this one looks kind of bad,”

“I know right! When I first saw it I almost screamed,” Chenle said happily. “Wait, no, I think I  _ did  _ scream,”

“ _ How in the world do his moods change so quickly? _ ” Jisung wondered. 

“You should be careful when crossing the road,” Jisung was almost crushing Chenle’s finger while cleaning out his hand. “You never know, that could become a trauma for you.”

“I’ll be fine! I don’t get scared of anything, except for bugs,” Chenle winced when Jisung pinched a spot on his arm, turning his skin pink when he let go. “And that death grip of yours! Holy—” 

“Jisung, we’re home! Please come out of your room,” the two boys froze at the sound of Jisung’s parents entering the house. Jisung set down his supplies next to Chenle and pressed a finger to his lips. 

“Don’t move, don’t make a sound. If they find you here we’re both in big trouble,” Jisung whispered, slinking out the door. Chenle just watched him with wide eyes, doing as he was told. 

He didn’t want to get Jisung in trouble, and even more than that,  _ he didn’t want to leave _ . So he just climbed further onto the small bed where everything was safer, scanning the room for anywhere to hide if his parents ever came in when he was here. There was a walk-in closet, a dresser that had big enough drawers for Chenle to fit in, and obviously, there was under the bed. He leaned over the edge of the bed and checked the last option. 

There he found something staring right back at him with gleaming eyes and pink hair. Chenle covered his mouth as to not screamed, but as he came back up the bed shook so much that the first aid kit and everything Jisung was using clanged onto the floor, creating a big noise. Now Chenle was sweating nervously, scared that Jisung would kick him out. He did promise to be quiet after all, and Chenle usually never breaks a promise. 

Sooner than Chenle had expected, Jisung came back inside the room. He saw Chenle spread out in the middle of the bed and he cursed under his breath. 

“I had to cover for your sorry ass,” Jisung said in a hushed voice. “You should be thanking me for not getting you caught,”

“I’m sorry! I was-I was just looking for somewhere to hide if anything were to come up so I checked under the bed and I saw something staring back at me and it scared me so I like jumped and everything fell off the bed!” 

“Oh, my God, slow down Chenle. What did you say?”

“There’s something—no,  _ someone  _ under your bed!” 

Jisung stepped closer, furrowing his brow. Maybe Chenle was just seeing things? 

When he checked, there was indeed something there. nd that something happened to be his favorite stuffed animal. After that, Jisung was on the floor laughing, happy tears in his eyes. How could a teenager, almost adult, get scared of that?! He hugged the big hamster to his chest, nearly screaming in laughter. 

“Jisung? Is everything okay?” Jisung’s mom shouted. 

“Yes, mom! We’re—I mean, I’m fine! Just laughing at something I saw on Twitter,” Jisung yelled back, finally regaining his composure. 

“Okay then. Call me if you need anything!”

Jisung sat on the bed again and smiled at Chenle. “Oh, my my my, you’re such a  _ baby _ ,” Chenle pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“I am not!”

“You so are though!”

“Whatever. I’m hungry. Can I eat now?” 

“Not until dinner’s ready,”

“Well when’s dinner gonna be ready?” 

“Oh my god, Chenle, has anyone ever told you that you’re a  _ brat _ ?” Jisung scoffed at Chenle’s little rich-boy attitude, turning away from him. 

“No, ‘cause it’s not true!”

“It sure is, you little brat,”

“You take that back!”

“Not gonna happen~” 

Chenle, unable to take Jisung anymore, lunged at the boy, sending them off the bed and onto the floor. A loud thump echoed through the air, but neither of them seemed to care. All they wanted to do was fight each other. (Playfully, of course. Well, that’s what Jisung thinks it is.)

They rolled around for what felt like eternity until Jisung pinned Chenle’s wrists down to the floor and hovered over him. “I win,” he said smugly. 

“Whatever. I’ll win next time,” he pushed Jisung off of him with a huff, straightening out his outfit along with his hair, wrinkling his face. 

“Hey,” Jisung leaned his back on the frame of his bed. “What school do you go to?”

“NCT High, what about you?” (I’m sorry, I really couldn’t think of anything better.)

“Same here. You’re a junior?” Jisung asked, recalling Chenle’s age. 

“Yep.”

“Guess we’re in the same grade, then,” 

“That’s cool. I guess I’ll see you around there,” Chenle wasn’t quite sure what to say. 

“Yeah,”

* * *

“All right. My parents are sleeping, so you should be able to get to the garage safely without them waking up. I’m sure you know where it is, right?” Chenle nodded at Jisung’s question, taking the blanket that was being offered to him. 

“See you in the mornin’,” Jisung saluted him, an awkward grin on his face. 

“Goodnight, Sungie,” Chenle closed the door behind him, making sure to be as quiet as possible. Though he and Jisung weren’t close at all, he could definitely feel a connection starting to form. He trudged down the hall, turning into the hallway that lead to the laundry room, living room, and garage. He opened the last door on the hall, the smell of tires and paint filling his lungs. He liked the way this smelled. 

He searched the garage for anywhere to sleep, feeling elated when he found a big dog bed in the corner of the room, concealed by cans of paint and long paintbrushes. He would’ve missed it if he wasn’t looking as hard he was. He tiptoed over to it, lifting his blanket above his head and curling up on it. It didn’t smell the best, but he could get used to this… 

Is what he thought, but 2 hours later and he  _ still  _ wasn’t awake. He didn’t have anything to hold besides the sides of the bed, he couldn’t spread out and stretch because if he did he’d be drowned in paint. It was cold as  _ hell _ , even with a sweatshirt and a blanket on. Cars kept passing and there were ominous footfalls outside. He was shivering for the second time that day. 

Sick of the cold, Chenle headed back inside, dragging the blanket behind him. He rubbed his sleep-filled eyes, yawning silently. He knocked on Jisung’s door, a tiny little knock that he probably wouldn’t even hear. Without waiting for permission, he opened the door and popped his head in. 

“Jisung?” he said thinly into the air, just barely above a whisper. 

“Ngh,” it seemed that even that small of a noise could wake Jisung up. “Chenle? Is that you?” Chenle nodded in the darkness, knowing Jisung could hardly see him.

“Yes,” Chenle walked up to the foot of the bed and put his hand on Jisun’g covered leg. “C-can I please sleep with you? I don’t think I want to sleep alone anymore. Plus, it’s really cold. And I’m scared,”

“Of what?” Jisung propped himself up on his elbows to look at Chenle. 

“The noises. It’s barely anything but it’s putting me on edge. I don’t like the sound of the wind, I can’t stand it when even a small leaf falls. It’s scary, what if someone’s out there?”

“You’re seriously a baby,” Jisung put his arms out, motioning for Chenle to join him. “Come here,” Chenle inhaled, about to shout hooray as he jumped onto the bed. Jisung clamped his hand over Chenle’s mouth. 

  
“Don’t you  _ dare _ ,” he hissed, practically crushing Chenle’s face. 

“I’m showwy,” he said, trying to rip his face away from Jisung’s grip. With a sigh, Jisung let go of the boy, turning away from him and hoisting the covers up further. Chenle did the same, pressing his back to the taller’s.

“Chenle-yah,” Jisung mumbled drowsily. “Do you have to be so close?”

“Can we cuddle?” Chenle asked without answering Jisung’s question. Jisung looked over his shoulder at Chenle and noticed how much his eyes sparkled, even without any light to cause them to do that. He wasn’t about to cry, was he? Jisung turned around, tempted to wipe the tears he thought were coming.

“‘M sleepy,” Chenle latched onto Jisung’s torso, burying his face in Jisung’s chest. Jisung found that he liked how warm Chenle felt, so he wrapped his arms around his waist and placed his nose on Chenle’s head.

Jisung could get used to this. 


	3. mornin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jisung and chenle go to school together (which i completely forgot to establish before, sorry, TT)

“Jisung? Jisung! Jisungie, wake up! You’ll be late for school, and you’re making me late to work! Come on, get your ass up,” Jisung’s dad screamed, right in Chenle’s ear. 

Oh, crap. Did he know he was there?

“Dad,” Jisung groaned. “Do I have to take the bus this morning? What time is it?”

Holy shit did Chenle like Jisung’s morning voice. 

“It’s 6:45 and  _ yes _ , you have to take the bus. I had to be to work 20 minutes ago but you wouldn’t wake up! So, I had to get you up myself. But you’re fine now, right?” Chenle felt Jisung’s chin moving on his head. “Good. Bye, have a good day at school, I love you!” 

“I love you, too,” he grumbled, tightening his hold on Chenle subconsciously. They lay in bed for a few more minutes before Jisung jolted up from where he was lying. 

“Chenle, we really have to get going. Go into my closet and get a change of clothes, we really,  _ really  _ have to go. We might miss the bus, then we’ll have run all the way to school and that would really take a toll on my feet, which would, in turn, hurt my dancing, oh god, we have to go — ”

Chenle placed his head on Jisung’s lap and whined. “You’re too loud,” he snuggled up into his warmth and breathed out. 

Jisung nearly cooed at the sight of him. Chenle’s cheeks were red and puffy from the cold, his tiny little hands clasped together like he was praying to some god. His hair was messy and all over the place, but it looked adorable. The clothes that Jisung had given him were way too big, he nearly drowned in them, making him look smaller than he actually was. Jisung wanted to pet the boy; so he did. There was nothing stopping him.

“Chenle,” he said as he ran his palm from the top of Chenle’s head to his nape. “You seriously need to get up. What’s your first class? I’ll walk you,” Chele perked up at that. 

“You will?” he cheered, his eyes sparkling with happiness. Jisung just smirked, thinking that was enough of an answer. “All right, all right! I’ll get up!” Chenle jumped off of the bed and immediately started to undress, too caught up in the fact that Jisung was going to walk him to class to care about the fact that Jisung was, in fact, staring at him. 

“You’re such a kid,” Jisung chuckled as he got out of bed, carding his hand through his hair. “I’m going to go make us some lunch. It won’t be much, but if you throw it up you won’t be allowed back in this house. Are you allergic to anything?” 

“Nope! Cook as you please,” Chenle surfed through Jisung’s closet, picking out the brightest piece of clothing he could find. (By the way, why the  _ hell  _ is his closet filled with black and dark gray? Even white was hard to find.) He put on the pastel yellow shirt and found some random, long, black jeans. Jisung had already left the room, he could hear him rummaging through the pantry. 

“Chenle! You good with apples?” Jisung yelled. 

“Can you slice ‘em for me please?”

“Only spoiled brats ask for things like that!” 

Chenle gasped. “How dare you insinuate that I’m a spoiled brat?” Chenle grabbed his bag from off the floor and proceeded into the kitchen where Jisung was, slicing some apples. 

“I’m not insinuating it,” Jisung turned around to give him a gummy smile. “I’m saying you  _ are  _ a spoiled brat,” 

“But you’re still cutting me apples if though you said I was a brat?”

“Yep! I’m nice like that,” Chenle slipped on his shoes and waited for Jisung. 

“What time is it?” Jisung asked, handing Chenle a worn-out, old-looking lunch box. 

“7:30,” Chenle responded, yawning loudly. He wiped the forming tears from his eyes and sniffled, looking up at Jisung. 

“Oh, shit! We gotta go,” Jisung grabbed all of his belongings from the couch in the living room and bolted out the door, yelling for Chenle to follow him. “Hurry up! We gotta be to the top of the neighborhood in under 5 minutes and it takes way longer than that to get there!”

“OH!” Chenle ran after Jisung, shutting the door behind him. They sprinted up the streets, turning familiar corners and smiling to themselves. Sooner than they had expected, they reached their bus stop, watching the busy street in front of them for the bus. 

"I'm freezing. And it h-hurts to breathe," Chenle whined, wrapping his arms around himself.

"That's because it's cold outside,"

"Well, I know! But it's just… way  _ too  _ cold,"

Jisung rolled his eyes. He knew what Chenle was trying to do, and he wasn't going to do it. He  _ so  _ was not going to do it. If he did that, Chenle would be warm and he'd be cold. He saw the way the shorter was eyeing his warm-looking sweatshirt. He tugged it closer to him and tried to look away, but when he saw Chenle's face, he couldn't resist. 

His eyes were big and shimmering, round cheeks puffed out and nose and ears rosy. The heels of his chubby hands were pressed up against his neck in an attempt to warm himself up. 

Jisung's heart did a  _ thing _ ; something it had never done before. It seemed to skip a beat, sending Jisung into a frenzy. 

Jisung lifted his sweatshirt above his head and held it out for Chenle to grab. "J-j-just take it," he said, looking down at the floor.

"Yay!" Chenle cheered, snatching it up and putting it on without a problem. He melted into the warmth with a sigh, pulling the hood up. "Feels nice," 

"G-good. You better be grateful, you little brat," 

"I am! Thank you so much for giving me your sweatshirt!" 

"Whatever… oh, look! The bus!" Jisung pointed to the big yellow vehicle that was barrelling towards them. Chenle picked up his bag from the ground and turned away from Jisung, crossing the road when the bus driver said it was okay to do so. Jisung got on first, not even sparing a glance at the kind lady driving the bus.

"Good morning!" Chenle greeted in a chipper voice. The bus driver smiled and bowed her head just the slightest bit.

"Good morning," he followed Jisung to the back of the bus, sitting down in the seat across from him. He laid his head on the window and watched the scenery as the bus started to move. They pulled into the nearby shopping center and stopped again, waiting for someone to get on. Then, they moved again, flying down roads and neighborhoods. Soon, Chenle was asleep, body bumping as the bus jumped from place to place. 

"Get — " Chenle was startled awake by someone yelling, then he heard a small groan. A handsome boy was standing in the aisle, looking straight at Chenle with a glare. Jisung tapped him on the shoulder and pulled him into the seat with him.

"Didn't I tell you not to wake him?" Jisung whispered. 

"Yeah, but who is he?" they both turned to Chenle, who was staring at them. Jisung looked him up and down, a smirk making its way onto his lips. 

"Just a stray puppy I picked up on the street,"

"Dude," the boy sitting with Jisung shifted and blocked his view. "That's weird. And why's he wearing your sweatshirt? You don't even give your  _ girlfriend  _ your sweatshirt!"

"Jeno, how could you tell it was my sweatshirt?" Jisung leaned over so he could see Chenle and bit more. "And I don't have a girlfriend!" 

"Then who's that girl that's always clinging to you at lunch?" Jeno, the boy Jisung was talking with, asked incredulously. 

"I honest to god have  _ no idea _ ! And he's wearing my sweatshirt cause he was cold and he asked for it — well, technically he didn't, but his eyes gave it away." 

"Jisung, you're a little weird today,"

"I know. I noticed, too," 

" _ And it's all because of you, _ " Jisung thought while Chenle appeared in his head.

* * *

"Chenle, I'll see you at home, okay? Make sure you do your work and don't get distracted." Jisung was walking through the halls with Chenle by his side, ignoring all the people staring at them. 

“What are you? My mom?” Chenle scoffed. 

“No, but I am… let’s just say… your guardian?”

“Literally how?”

“Well, I  _ am  _ the one who’s taking care of you, letting you live in my house, and feeding you, aren’t I?” Jisung put a hand on Chenle’s head and forced him to look at him, an artificial smile on his face. 

“Y-yes. I guess…” 

“Good! So listen to me, all right?” Jisung let go of him and stopped in his tracks. “This is my classroom. See you later, Chenle-yah. Make sure you eat your lunch properly! Don’t make a mess,”

“I’m not a messy eater!” Chenle protested. 

“Whatever you say!” Jisung opened the door to his class and winked, sticking his tongue out. 

“I hate him,” Chenle mumbled to himself, turning the corner. Someone bumped into his chest, and he said a small sorry before trying to get past. But they bumped into him again. Chenle looked down and saw a short girl, an accusing look on her face. Her arms were folded over her chest and she stepped back, huffing. 

“What were you doing with Jisung?”

“Talking…?” 

“Why were you talking to him?” 

Chenle scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward about the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “Because we’re friends,” 

“Oh, really? I’ve never seen you around before… and I sit with him every day at lunch…” the girl pressed the tip of her index finger to Chenle’s collarbone. Chenle played with the strings of Jisung’s sweatshirt. 

“Well, that’s cool. I haven’t been friends with him for that long so… I hope we can be friends!” Chenle smiled dazzlingly at her, but it had no effect. She only seemed more offended. 

“Why are you wearing his sweatshirt?”   
  


“Because it was cold at the bus stop this morning? So he gave it to me?”

“That isn’t fair! He probably barely even knows you, yet he still refuses to give me anything…” the girl whispered under her breath. “Wait, you have the same bus stop as him?” she nearly screeched. 

“Yeah… we live together — uh, I mean, we live in the same neighborhood,” Chenle heard the bell sounding, telling them that they were late. 

“I’m sorry, but I really have to go. I don’t want to upset my teacher,”

“Stay away from Jisung,”

“But he’s my friend…?”

“I don’t care! Anyone who enters his life is a threat. So stay away from him, okay? I won’t leave until you say you will,”

“Then I guess we’re not moving! Because I kind of really need him right now. I’ve only known him for like, a day, but he’s already so important to me.” 

“What, are you gay or something?”

“Yeah, what about it? What does that have to do with Jisung and I being friends?”

The girl groaned loudly. “Oh, my gosh, you are so  _ annoying _ .”   
  
“I know. I hear that from Jisung a lot. Also that I’m a brat, especially a spoiled brat. But he still cut my apples this mornin’!” 

“Ugh! I can’t deal with this anymore!” the girl stormed away, almost screeching. 

Chenle pressed his lips together in a thin pout, making his way to his first block. When he opened the door, everyone was looking at him. Was Jisung popular or something? Or had he done something wrong? (Spoiler, yes, Jisung is popular :P)

The whole period was torture. He had to do partner work, which he was fine with since he was a good talker, but no one wanted to be partners with him so he was alone. He got less work done than he wanted to cause he couldn’t focus because of a lack of breakfast. His stomach was growling, he had a throbbing headache, and the teacher’s voice was too. fucking. LOUD. 

When the bell for second block rang, he got the hell out of there. That room was suffocating; he couldn’t even tell what subject they were studying anymore. He ran to his second class, which was Home Economics, and set his belongings down next to his chair. 

The bell rung a few minutes later, and the room was filled with people. 

“All right, class, get seated, get seated. We’ll get started in a few moments. I’ll take attendance now,” 

He called out names, heard more ‘here’s than silence until he reached a name that completely shocked Chenle. 

“Park Jisung?” 

Silence. 

“Park Jisung?”

No response. 

“Last call, Park —”

“All right, all right. I’m here. You don’t gotta call for me anymore,” And there Jisung was, leaning against the door frame, a lazy smirk on his face as he stared into the class. That cool facade of his fell as soon as he locked eyes with Chenle. That attractive look on his face turned to one of surprise—no, disbelief, it looked like. 

“What the hell are  _ you _ doing here?”


	4. clumsy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chenle is a clumsy little fuck up (but we still love him)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow two chapters in one day??? each with over 1000 words???? i am a writing mACHINEEEE

“What the hell are  _ you  _ doing here?” 

They stared at each other. How had they never noticed each other in this class before? Jisung, being the cool, suave guy that he is, reclaimed his equilibrium and took a seat next to the guy from the bus, Jeno. 

“Hey, hey, isn’t that busboy?” Jeno wiggled his eyebrows at Jisung, only earning a grunt and a punch to the arm in return. Chenle just watched them, entranced by their interaction. Jisung seemed to care about that Jeno boy. 

“Zhong Chenle? Zhong Chenle?”

“A-ah. Yes, I’m here.”

Ms. Ahn put her stack of papers on the desk and stood up. “Okay, y’all! Let’s get to work! Get into pairs and cook something you think the other would like with the resources you find in the pantry. I’m going to go print out some papers. No leaving the classroom unless it’s important, you hear?” all the kids in the classroom droned at a ‘yes ma’am’ and went back to their side conversations. 

Chenle just sat there. He watched Jisung and Jeno talk and laugh, but he wasn’t the only one. He spotted the girl from earlier with her friends, fangirling over Jisung. She looked over at Chenle and stuck her tongue out, standing up determinedly. She walked over to Jisung and whispered something in his ear. Chenle watched, wondering what was said. Jisung pulled away after a while, a small smile on his face. He nodded at her, then glanced at Chenle. 

Chenle, being the competitive motherfucker that he is, sauntered over to Jisung and placed his butt right on Jisung’s lap. “Ch-Chenle? Are you okay?” Jisung didn’t try to push him off, instead tilted his head to look up at Chenle. 

“Yep! I’m totally fine. I just decided to annoy you,”

“Little brat,” Jisung said, an adoring tone to his voice. 

“ _ Your  _ little brat,” Chenle wrapped his arms around Jisung’s neck and rested his chin on Jisung’s head. Discreetly, he fixed his gaze on a fuming… well, girl from earlier, almost laughing to himself. Thank goodness Jisung was such a passive being, otherwise, he would’ve gotten his ass beat. 

“I mean, you did say you were my guardian!” Chenle giggled, patting Jisung’s nape. 

“Yeah… I guess I did say that,”

“Jisung, will you be my partner?” Chenle shifted so his chest was in Jisung’s face, obstructing his view of anyone else, and obstructing anyone else’s view of him. 

“Sorry, Chenle. Hwamin over here already asked to be my partner — ” 

Jeno quickly pulled Hwamin into his arms, along with a boy sitting next to him. “Nah! Hwamin will be partners with me and Jaeminnie here. There’s an odd amount of people in this class so there’s bound to be one person left out,” 

“So?” Chenle said in that high-pitched voice of his. “Be mine?”

Jisung’s heart did another thing; something it had done once, this morning. The look on Chenle’s face looked pretty much pure, but not quite. Something in his cute little kitten eyes was mischievous, kind of wicked. And Jisung liked it. 

“Fine, you brat. You’re so annoying,” Chenle finally got off of Jisung and started jumping around the classroom, hipping and hooraying. Jisung’s eyes wouldn’t —no,  _ couldn’t  _ leave Chenle. He just looked so, so pretty. The way the light from the windows made his skin shine and glow, the way his hair was thrown up behind him like a halo, the ways his eyes smiled along with his lips. 

“Pretty,” Jisung muttered. 

“Huh? Jisung, what was that?” Hwamin tried to get Jisung to look at her, but he only replied as he turned back to Jeno. Jeno was conversing nervously with Jaemin, who he’s had a crush on since Sophomore year. 

“I-I didn’t say anything. Oi, Chenle! Let’s get working!” Jisung gathered Chenle together, gripping his wrists to stop him from acting like a fool—wait, no, scratch that. A  _ child _ . 

“What’s your favorite food?” Jisung asked as he put on his apron, getting out pans and bowls and anything he thought he needed to use. 

“Hm,” Chenle tapped his chin in thought, recalling everything he’s ever eaten in life. “Oh! I got it,” Chenle licked his lips as the thought of the food filled his brain. “I really, really,  _ really _ , like dipped strawberries,” 

  
  


Jisung furrowed his eyebrows. It wasn’t a weird food, he just expected something more… well, actually, Jisung had no idea what the hell he was expecting. Just not that. 

“What do you like?”

“Just simple ramen will do. Add seasoning and stuff! Don’t make it too bland,”

“When will you stop telling me what to do?”

Jisung spun on his heel to check the cabinets. “When you stop living with me,” 

Chenle groaned. Was Jisung sure  _ Chenle  _ was the annoying one in this friendship? Wait, was what they had even a friendship? Chenle cleared those thoughts from his head and followed Jisung’s lead, finding some packets of spicy ramen in the pantry. Extra extra extra spicy. 

Oh, how Chenle was going to make Jisung suffer. 

* * *

“Chenle, it smells like something’s burning. Do you smell that?” Jisung covered his nose, trying to block out the acrid smell. 

“I don’t smell anything! Stop trying to sabotage me…” Chenle’s gaze fixed on the mess of a person next to them: Lee Jeno. Just what the heck was he trying to make? The whole fucking pan was on fire!

“Oh, my God! Hyung! Turn it off, get the fire extinguisher,” Jisung shouted, snickering. Knowing him, Jeno probably tried to do something to impress Jaemin and it backfired. What an absolute loser. 

And that’s how Chenle, Jaemin, Jisung, Jeno, and Hwamin all ended up kicked out of class, clothes messy and stained, and moods down. None of them said a word, they just sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. 

“Jisung,” Chenle started. Jisung hit his thigh, glaring at him. 

“Don’t,” 

Lemme summarize what happened for you; Chenle got the fire extinguisher, didn’t know how it worked, ended up blowing it all over the place, tripped, burnt his elbow on the stove, sent the pan flying, and spilled everything Hwamin and Jaemin were working on. Jaemin tried to help him up but ended up falling on him, along with the cake batter that was in his hand. 

Now both Jaemim and Chenle were sticky, and for some reason, Jisung and Hwamin were dragged into this mess. All because they were their stupid partners. 

Chenle pulled out a glob of cake batter from his hair. “Do you—”

“Didn’t I say don’t?”

“Do you think they’ll let me and Jaemin-hyung use the showers? I can’t go to gym looking like this!” Chenle threw the glob onto the floor and watched it splatter. 

“Wait, you have gym next? I do, too. Wonder why I’ve never noticed you…” 

“You were probably too caught up with that Hwamin girl to notice,” Chenle murmured. 

“What’d you say about me?” Hwamin looked over to the two of them, raising an eyebrow. 

“Nothing! I didn’t mention you at all.” Chenle pulled down his bottom eyelid and stuck his tongue out, winking with the other eye. 

“Wait, if we’re in the same gym class, why didn’t you notice me  _ either _ ?” Jisung pursed his lips at Chenle, tempted to grab him by the collar and jostle him around a bit. 

“Cause I mostly keep to myself,”

“Well, that’s hard to believe.”

Chenle turned to face Jisung, pouting hard. “What? How?”

Jisung let a goofy smile making its way onto his face. “Seeing as the moment you saw me open the car door you ran into my arms, practically begging me to let you stay with me. You don't seem like a very—" Chenle clapped a hand on Jisung's mouth and looked around at the others' faces.

"Chenle, you're staying with Jisung?" Jeno asked.

"Hence, stray puppy I picked up," Jisung said through the cracks in Chenle's fingers.

"N-no! That's not true! I-I'm staying at my own home. I can even tell you my address!" Chenle protested. 

"Oh really?"

"Y'all know I wouldn't make this shit up,"

They all stared at him for a second before nodded. “You right, bro,” Jeno said. 

“Ew, please,  _ never  _ speak like that again,” Hwamin made fake throwing up noises, lurching forward. 

“Whatever y’all. Jaeminnie-hyung, would you care to accompany me to the showers?” Chenle stood up and held his hand out for Jaemin to help himself get up. 

“Of course, my prince. I’d do anything for you,” and so they skipped down the hall, hand-in-hand and giggling to each other. 

Everyone stayed silent for a few moments, then Jisung asked quietly, “Hey, wasn’t that their first time speaking to each other?” Jeno and Hwamin nodded slowly at him. “What absolute weirdos. I love it,” 

“More like you love Che—” 

“Wait! What if something bad happens to them? With all saw how fucking clumsy Chenle was. Yeah, haha, I’m going to go check on them. That’s totally the reason why I want to go check on them,” 

But the voice in the back of his head thought different. “ _ What if they do something which each other? What if they get a little too close? What if—Jisung, stop! It’s not like he’s your boyfriend. You don’t even like him that way. You met him yesterday, you dimwit! _ ”

“Y-yeah. I am also most definitely worried about how clumsy Chenle is. What if he slips then sends Jaemin tumbling to the ground?”

They both looked at each other, eyes wide, then ran down the hallway after them. 

“ _ Holy shit, Jisung, just what the  _ hell _ has gotten into you? _ ”


	5. fluster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jisung is a little shit and also a little flustered bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk why this took so long to write, im so sorry for not updating for 2 straight days :(((

“Jaemin-hyung, what’s Jisung like?” Chenle asked as he scrubbed the mess out of his hair. Jaemin was standing next to him, cleaning his body. He just shrugged, making a sort of ‘don’t ask me’ noise. 

“I don’t know him personally. But what I do know from listening to what everyone else says about him, is that he’s hot, he’s sexy, and he’s the dream boy. But when I listen to his conversations with Jeno in Home Ec, he seems the complete opposite. He’s a cute little bean, he seems stressed, he just wants to go home. But he does seem to play around with girls a lot,” 

“Hyung, didn’t you say you didn’t know?” Chenle put his head under the showerhead, squeezing his eyes tight so the shampoo wouldn’t get in his eyes. 

“Technically I never  _ said _ that,” Jaemin winked subtly at Chenle, a charming smile dancing on his lips. Chenle couldn’t help but smile back, thinking Jaemin looked really pretty. They stared at each other before someone from behind them coughed intentionally. 

Chenle threw his head back up, accidentally hit the showerhead, then held his head in his hands. “I’m sorry! We’ll get out of your way--Jisung?”

“Y-You might want to hurry up. The other class with get here soon, and I’m sure you don’t want to show them that twink body of yours,”

“Twink what now?!” 

“I said what I meant and I meant what I said,” Jisung did that signature thing; leaning on whatever the hell was closest to him. This time, it was the door, being held in place by his foot. “Compared to Jaemin hyung you look like a twig,” at those words, Chenle covered his exposed body with his hands. 

“Isn’t this the second time you’ve walked in on me while I’m naked? What a pervert,” Chenle’s cheeks were bright red; he didn’t like people staring at him when he was  _ this  _ exposed. “But anyway, c-c-can you hand me a towel, please? I’m all clean now.” 

Jisung didn’t say anything, just turned away to go get a towel. His eyes lingered on Chenle for just a moment longer than they should’ve, but neither of the two noticed. 

Jaemin, on the other hand, was ecstatic.  _ Young love!  _ was the only thing flashing through his mind right at that moment. He sensed a very fun story coming. 

“Gimme, gimme,” Chenle made grabby hands at the towel, glaring straight at Jisung. 

“Brat,” Jisung sighed. “You’re going to have to turn the shower off unless you  _ want  _ your towel to be wet,” that lazy, irritatingly charming smirk crossed his face again. 

“Yeah, I knew that,” Chenle turned around and spun the handle, then the water shut off. “I totally knew that,”

“Jisungie, can you get me a towel too?” Jaemin asked, stepping in front of Chenle to get Jisung’s attention. 

“Actually, I got that,” he felt what he asked for on his head, a hand along with it. He moved his gaze to the side, and there Jeno was, smiling at him. Jeno rubbed his head, refusing to look away. 

As if on cue, the lockerroom doors opened and tons of loud voices and bellowing screams filled the almost absolute silence. The squeaks of sneakers on waxed wood snapped the four of them out of their trances. Jaemin, who was now covered, shifted to look at Chenle. He was still very, very, naked. Jaemin placed his hands on top of his eyes and spun around the other way. “Jisung, give Chenle his towel already! You’re taking too long,” 

Jisung tossed the towel to Chenle and ran out of the shower stall. His face was completely flushed red. If he stared at Chenle for any longer, he might’ve snapped and gone insane. I mean, seriously, how is it possible for  _ anyone  _ to be that pretty? He must be some sort of angel or something! He’s most definitely not from this world. 

Jeno followed after him in a slow walk, sniggering. He stood next to him at their shared locker and slung an arm around his shoulder. 

“Aw, did Jisung get flustered by pretty boy? What, aren’t you straight?” Jeno asked chaffingly. Jisung pushed him away and hid his face in his hands. 

“Yes! I am straight. The straightest boy at this school, not even an ounce of gay in me,” Jisung was breathing hard. The image of Chenle’s  _ pretty _ face tinted with a  _ pretty  _ pink blush, smiling  _ prettily  _ at him remained in his mind. What the hell was wrong with him?

“That’s bullshit, but whatever you say. I’m going to go change, then I’m heading to the gym. Don’t be late!” Jeno slinked away from him, gym bag in hand as he headed off to the bathroom. 

“What’s wrong, Jisung?” this time it was Chenle coming to talk to him; a.k.a the one person he did not want to see right now. 

“Nothing. Go away. I don’t want to talk to you,” Jisung rose his face out of his hands and scowled aggressively at Chenle. 

“Why? What did I do?” Chenle pouted at him, hoping he was too cute to resist. But nope. 

“Cause you’re a brat and you get on my nerves,” Jisung quickly changed himself so he could get away from the angel-like boy in front of him. Holy shit, he really  _ was  _ going insane. He dashed away, leaving Chenle there, confused and a little bit sad. 

“My emotional support boy doesn’t want to talk to me,” Chenle, now drooping, rested his head on Jisung’s closed locker. He felt arms wrap around his waist and he flinched, only relaxing when he realized it was Jaemin. 

“It’s okay! I’ll be your new emotional support boy,” Jaemin whispered sweetly, grinning at the slumping boy. 

“Jaemin-hyung, have I ever told you that I love you?”   
  


“No,”

“Well, I love you,”

* * *

“All right, class! Today is the beginning of practice for our class-wide volleyball tournament! Gather up in the middle and sit down. I’ll be explaining the rules and stuff like that.” Chenle was already in the middle, so he just sat, staring up at Mr. Lee, who was their teacher. (yes its lee soo man pls i tried to make this as funny as possible but i can't fckn DO IT)

Jaemin slid into the spot next to him and laid his head on the younger’s shoulder. “Wanna be on my team? I don’t have any friends in this class so it’d be awkward to ask people I don’t know.”

“—6 people per team, don’t forget to rotate, you can only touch the ball 3 times per team before it has to go over the net, and you cannot touch the ball twice! Did I get everything?” Mr. Lee surveyed the looks on his students’ faces, getting excited that they were excited. “You guys can pick your teams. But no member exchanging after today! Or at all. You guys can suffer the consequences of picking people based on friendship instead of how good they are.” 

“But, Mr. Lee, how are we supposed to know how good they are?” one student spoke up. 

“Do y’all not remember? Last class, we played 1-on-1’s against each other. You should’ve been watching people if your pair wasn’t on the court.”

Chenle snorted at that. He most definitely wasn’t doing that. Instead, he was sitting on the bleachers, turned around in his seat, admiring the cute little bird’s nest perched on the windowsill outside. He watched how the little just-hatched birds chirped and squirmed. Hell, he didn’t even remember who his partner was, let alone playing against them.

When the class didn’t respond, he waved a hand in the air. “Whatever. Just pick your team and team name. Don’t pull any funny business!” 

The class dispersed into their respective friend groups; the popular people (Jisung and Jeno surrounded by a bunch of good-looking girls), the athletics (buff, intimidating guys and girls), and nerds (people with noodle bodies and glasses), the soft people who don’t do this kind of thing (wears  _ only  _ pastels and pinks, has great fashion sense in Chenle’s opinion), and the loners. Though, the loners weren’t ni groups, rather in pairs or all alone. 

“We still need to find 4 more people…” Jaemin bit his lip and stared down at the floor. He wasn’t quite sure who to ask—sure, he could ask Jeno, but the popular boy probably already had a team. Jisung was also an option but like Jeno—

“Oi, Jaemin, Chenle. Come join our team. We only have room for two left. Hurry, before someone else asks!” Jeno called from the middle of the people surrounding him. Chenle and Jaemin both glanced at each other before shrugging and racing each other to the group of people. 

When Jisung saw what Jeno was doing, he shook his head rapidly and put his arms up in an ‘x’ motion. “Please, hyung, no. I can’t be around him right now, I’ll go crazy. Please, hyung, please—” Chenle walked up to him and smiled. 

“So, you ready to talk to me now?” Chenle poked Jisung’s arm with a cute little smile. Jisung’s heart started to beat fast; faster, then faster, then so fast that Jisung thought he was going to pass out. Concealing all of this, he huffed and turned his eyes away from Chenle. 

“Hey, hey, who are you?” a tan boy with a high voice said from next to Jisung. The boy was clinging onto his arm, tilting his head at Chenle. 

“I-I’m Chenle. Jisung’s friend. Who are you?”

“I’m Donghyuck! Pleased to meet you,” 

“I’m Renjun! I’m a foreigner so please don’t get mad at me when I don’t know what you’re saying,” said the boy who was on Jeno’s back.

“Oh, me too! Which country are you from?” Chenle asked, thrilled. 

“China,” Renjun replied, hopping off of Jeno’s back and making his way over to Chenle. 

“Me too!” Chenle tackled Renjun into a hug. He didn’t know what got into him. He sees a foreigner, he jumps them. But like, not aggressively. Just with hugs. 

“ _ How long have you been here? _ ” he asked, using his native Chinese tongue. Renjun’s face brightened up. 

“ _ A year or so. But I like it here! Jeno’s helped me a lot. Though he won’t admit it, I know he loves me, _ ” Renjun sat up from the ground and patted Chenle’s head. “ _ How about you? I’ve seen you around, but it seems like you don’t have any friends? It must’ve been hard learning a new language on your own, _ ”

“ _ Yeah. It was hard, but my parents forced me to study hard and stuff, so… yeah. But I’ve been here since the start of the year! _ ” 

“What are you guys talking about in that weird language or yours?” Jisung leaned into between them, effectively separating them. 

“It’s not weird!” they yelled in unison. Jisung laughed at them, grabbing both of their hands and hoisting them up. 

“ARE YOU GOING TO SPEAK TO ME OR WHAT?” Chenle screamed at Jisung, grabbing him by the collar. 

The whole gym went silent and looked at them, wondering what the hell was going on. Some of the girls screeched ‘get your hands off of him you filthy dog!’, but they didn’t hear. They just stared at each other. 

Chenle’s gaze was faltering, he couldn’t handle the way Jisung looked at him. He wasn’t sure what that expression was but it nearly melted him. So he tore his hands away and folded his arms over his chest. 

“F-Fine! Just don’t make a scene, okay?” 

Chenle licked his lip and narrowed his eyes at Jisung before nodding, then resuming his conversation with Renjun. 

Ah, how Jisung was a jealous motherfucker. 

He wasn’t used to not having everyone’s attention on him, so when it came time to practice and Renjun and Chenle were having fun together, without him, he felt an odd feeling in his chest. It was bitter, felt like bile, and all Jisung knew was that he didn’t like it. 

Jeno, Jaemin, Donghyuck, Chenle, and Renjun bumped the ball into the air, focusing on passing to each other and even joking about “oh, who should be the left-wing spiker?”

“Jisung!” Donghyuck called, tossing the ball to him. But Jisung didn’t notice, he was too busy staring at Chenle to even go for the ball. It just dropped to the floor, completely erasing their goal of hitting it to each other 20 times before their minute ends. 

“Jisung,” Chenle whined, frowning. When he realized that everyone was staring at him, he snapped out of his trance and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“Whoops, sorry. I was just distracted by something…” 

“More like by Chenl—”

“JENO SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I’LL TELL JAE—”

“JISUNG I HATE YOU,”

Jeno and Jisung smiled at each other, eventually get rid of their hostile tones and laughing. 

Mr. Lee came over to their group with a clipboard and a pen, asking how they were doing and what their team name was. 

“It’s Dream!” yelled Renjun immediately. 

“Wait, we didn’t all agree on that…” Jaemin said sheepishly. “Not that I don’t like it,” 

“Okay then! You guys will be on court number 3, against Stray Kids. What a weird name, am I right?” Mr. Lee pointed to the volleyball net that was set up in the middle of the big gym and patted Jeno on the back, who was closest to him. 

Jisung glanced at Chenle one last time before following Mr. Lee’s hand to the court. 

* * *

Chenle opened his eyes, his head throbbing and ears ringing. The lights in the room were insanely bright and right over his face, too. 

“Wait, guys, he’s waking up!” he heard someone yell. A chorus of ‘sh’s echoed through the room. Chenle noticed Jisung sitting right next to him and tilted his head in confusion. 

Why in the world was he in the nurse's office, in a bed no less? Why did his head hurt so bad? Why did his body ache?

“Why am I here?” Chenle voiced his thoughts. Jisung raised both of his eyebrows at him with his mouth slightly gaping. 

“You don’t remember? We were playing volleyball and that one dude from Stray Kids, I think his name was Felix, spiked the ball and for some reason, your stupid ass didn’t move and got hit in the face! Your nose started bleeding and you passed out,” Jisung released his hold on Chenle’s hand, which Chenle didn’t even notice in the first place, and poked in between his eyebrows. “Thank goodness you’re light. If not I would’ve just left you there,”

“Jisung, you’re a bad caretaker,” Jeno joked from the couch. 

“Talk to me when you can take care of a human instead of a  _ cat _ ," 

Jeno stood up from where he was sitting. “Hey, cats are hard to take care of!”

Jisung scoffed. “Not harder to take care of than this human disaster,”

“I am  _ not  _ a human disaster!”

The nurse stepped into the room with a displeased look on her face. She slapped her ruler on the clipboard she was holding and scanned the room. “You all need to leave! You’re loud and I can tell it’s stressing out Chenle. I have a load of work to do, and I still have to treat his wounds. Can any of you tell me why the  _ hell  _ his leg and hand are scratched up even though he was just playing volleyball?”

They all turned back to Chenle, furrowing their brows. “I don’t know… he didn’t tell us about that,” Renjun said. 

“It’s nothing y’all need to know. Besides, I did tell  _ one  _ of y’all about it,” Chenle motioned to Jisung and Jisung let a small smile onto his lips. “It’s not even important,” Chenle added. 

“Ms. Nurse! Since you have so much work, I can stay behind and help Chenle. I’ve done it once, and I can do it again,” Jisung offered, turning around completely to give Ms. Nurse that insanely, annoyingly attractive smirk of his. 

It seemed to work, because she immediately softened and went, “Really, Jisungie? You would do that for me?” Chenle could see the disgusting hearts in her eyes and tsked. 

“More like for Chenle,” Jisung whispered so that no one could hear. “Of course! You are my favorite staff member after all,” he sent a wink her way and subtly blew a kiss. 

“Jisung,” Donghyuck mouthed. “Over the top.” Jisung just huffed in response and turned back to Chenle. He smiled sweetly, a smile Chenle had never seen before and rubbed his thumb over the back of Chenle’s hand. It made Chenle’s heart jump over the moon, but he ignored it. 

“Okay. Thank you! Boys, you should get going before lunch finishes up. You have to at least eat something, right?” 

So they all filtered out of the room, bidding goodbye to Chenle and Jisung and telling them to eat something quickly, and telling Jisung to be gentle with Chenle as if Jisung was some sort of demon. 

“Fuck y’all,” he grumbled lowly. “Putting that aside, Chenle, are you okay?”

“How would I know? I don’t remember anything that happened,” Chenle kneaded his temples, wishing the pulsating headache would go away. 

“R-right. Do you want some Advil?” 

“Yes, please,” Jisung got up and scoured the office for a cup and the pill. Once he had found both, he filled up the cup with water from the sink and handed it to Chenle. He watched the smaller boy gulp the water and pill down, gathering tissues in his hand when the water spilled over from his mouth, down his chin, and onto the thin sheets. He put it up to Chenle’s face and held it there, waiting for him to stop drinking so he could take it away. 

  
  


Chenle set the glass of water on the table-thing next to the bed and let out a little ‘wah’, panting. “Did I drink too fast?”

“Probably. Do you want me to go get you your lunchbox?” Jisung had begun to get up already. 

Strange. Jisung was oddly caring when they were alone. It was as if he put up this barrier, this facade when he was around other people. 

Chenle shook his head meekly and clasped his fingers around Jisung’s wrists. 

“I-I’m not hungry. Just stay, please,” Jisung’s eyes flitted from their almost touching hands to Chenle’s pretty kitten eyes. 

“If that’s what you want, I’ll stay. Just—get some rest, okay? You must be in pain right now,” 

Chenle shrugged. “I guess. But you being here makes it better,” Chenle bit his lip. “Thank you,” 

“For what?” Jisung sat back down on the stool next to Chenle’s bed and held his hand. 

“For staying with me, for looking out for me, for being my… fr-friend… for letting me stay with you and cuddling with me last night,” Chenle mumbled, voice as soft as the wind on a summer day. 

Jisung smiled at Chenle again and squeezed his hand. “You’re welcome. Maybe I can cuddle with you again, right now?”

“Don’t push it,” 

They both broke out into sweet laughter, not even sure why they were laughing. 

“And he says he doesn’t like him,” Jeno said in disbelief from where he was standing outside the door. Yes, of course, he was going to spy on his ‘son’. Who knows what that little devil was going to do?

But when he saw Jisung’s soft, gentle, caring expression as he looked at Chenle, he knew there was absolutely nothing to worry about. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a question that doesnt pertain to this fic, would yall get mad at me if i wrote chenji/chensung smut??? like i want to but i also dont cause i'd feel kinda wrong doing it but like,,,, IMAGINE what i could DO
> 
> i might just end up doing it lol


	6. denied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> im not quite sure what this chapter was but its FLUFFY and jisung is in DENIAL

Jisung stared at Chenle. They had decided to take the bus home since it was too cold to walk, and by now, the sun had set and the stars were sparkling in the sky. Chenle’s head was rested against the window, soft snores erupting from his open mouth. Jisung was seated next to him, not having enough space in the bus to sit in a separate spot. That’s what he got for living so close to the school. It was about 6 o clock when the bus finally neared their stop. Jisung gently shook Chenle, watching the scenery fly past them. 10 more seconds until they had to get off. 

“Oi, Chenle,” Jisung whisper yelled. “Oi!” when his mind had processed that Chenle wasn’t going to get up, he put his book bag on his back and waited till the bus stopped before he pulled Chenle up and dragged him along with him. He bowed his head to the bus driver and got off with much difficulty. 

“Is he okay?” the bus driver asked. Jisung smiled and nodded. 

“He’s just sleepy. Don’t mind him,” and so the bus drove off. Jisung placed Chenle on the sidewalk and stood in front of him. “Hey, hey! Wake up,” he slapped Chenle’s cheeks gently, getting fed up. How could this boy sleep through all of that?

“Shut up and let me sleep,” Chenle spoke drowsily, just barely opening his eyes to look up at Jisung. “I barely got any sleep last night,”

“Well, neither did I! You kept trying to move but you wouldn’t let go of me so you just ended up elbowing me in the stomach!” 

“I’m sorry!” Chenle shot back at Jisung. “But, like, just, carry me, please? It wouldn’t be that hard, I’m light!”

“Fuck that, you can walk home.” Jisung began to stride away from Chenle, going as fast as he could.

“Sungie~” 

Jisung stopped in his tracks and whipped his head around to look at Chenle, who was rising to his feet. “Who gave you permission to call me that?” he said coldly. 

“Whatever, Sungie. You can’t escape my cute ass nicknames,”

Jisung rolled his eyes, turning away so Chenle wouldn’t see the grin spreading across his lips. “Shut up and come here,” when Chenle listened to him, he wrapped his arm around his shoulders and forced Chenle to lay his head on his own shoulder. “There, that better? Now all you have to do is use your legs. I’ll guide you, or whatever,” 

“Thank you, Sungie,” 

“Just go to sleep!”

* * *

When they arrived home, Jisung saw his mother’s car in the driveway, which could only mean one thing; his parents were home. Jisung mentally cursed as he made his way to the front door. 

“Hey, Chenle-yah,” Jisung flicked Chenle’s temple, eliciting a wince. 

“What was that for?” Chenle yelled. Jisung immediately shushed him, eyes wide. He pointed to the inside of the house, then at the car in the driveway. 

“Ohhhhhh, I get it.” Chenle smiled just the tiniest bit, pushing Jisung’s arm off of him. “But, Jisungie, can’t we just tell them that I’m over to study?”

“They’re just going to say, ‘oh, it’s been 2 hours since school ended. what have y’all been doing?’ and they’ll assume that either you’re here to play, or that we’ve  _ been  _ playing and… then they’ll ground me,” 

Chenle sighed and tapped his chin. He looked at Jisung, then to his bedroom window, then back to Jisung. “So I take it that I have to sneak in?” 

Jisung nodded, cringing. “Sorry about that,” 

“It’s meh. I’ve had my experience with this,”

“Ooh, Chenle’s a bad boy!” Jisung said teasingly, reaching over to punch Chenle’s arm. Chenle caught his fist and attempted to throw him down onto the ground, but just ended up twisting his arm. “Ouch, ouch, ouch!” Jisung cried, tapping Chenle’s wrist in surrender. 

Just when Chenle was about to let go of him, the front door swung open, and out came his father, yelling. “Who the hell is hurting my Jisung?!” 

They both stared at him, wide-eyed, completely frozen.

“Dad…” Jisung said slowly, backing up. Chenle followed. “Why do you have a butcher knife…?”

“Get away from my boy!” Jisung’s dad shouted. 

“But I’m not even--” Jisung’s dad lunged at Chenle, tearing him away from Jisung. He pinned him to the dry grass, pressing the blunt edge of the knife against Chenle’s throat. 

“Dad, what the fuck? He’s my friend, we were just play fighting!” Jisung said, distraught. 

Jisung’s dad, or just father, for now, turned to Jisung and rose an eyebrow. Jisung nodded rapidly, pointing to the boy under father. He sprang off of Chenle and bowed apologetically to him. 

“No no, father, it’s okay,” Chenle smiled sweetly at him, shaking his head. “I’m mostly fine! Except the fact that the bruised side of my head hit the ground… otherwise, we’re fine!” 

“Oh, my God, are you okay, Chenle?” Jisung rushed over to Chenle’s side and grabbed his head gently and delicately, combing his fingers through the older boy’s hair and tilting his head back so he could see better. Chenle only slightly laughed at him, holding onto his wrist. 

“I’m fine! My head’s kinda ringing, though… eh! Nothing I haven’t experienced,” Chenle winked playfully at Jisung, an awkward yet dashing smile on his face. 

Father watched with interest, wondering when his Jisung became so caring for others. 

“Dad is it okay if we eat dinner in my room today? We have a big test coming in chemistry tomorrow and I want to do all the studying I can!” 

“But you’ve been out of school for two hours? Why didn’t you study then? What have you been up to?”

Jisung detached himself from Chenle and made his way towards the front door, picking up his school bag. “We had to get Chenle on the bus, then by the time he got on he fell asleep and his snoring was  _ super  _ distracting. He’s such a loud sleeper,”

Well, that wasn’t  _ exactly  _ the truth. Chenle was the quietest little shit he had ever seen (except for when he’s awake) and it almost freaked him out. Even the sound of him breathing was extremely faint. 

“Okay, boys! Just don’t start playing board games up there or I might have to beat ya,” Chenle flinched at Father’s comment, the knife in his hand glinting. “At the game,” Father added. 

How relieving. 

So for the next few hours, Chenle and Jisung hid inside their(?) room and talked, laying on the bed next to each other. They had eaten dinner on that same bed, getting crumbs and sauce everywhere. Luckily, they hadn’t gotten it on themselves, so Chenle wouldn’t have to shower twice in a day. 

Now they were wrestling on the floor, having just argued about whether an avocado was a fruit or not. 

“You’re a snot-nosed dingbat! Avocadoes are most definitely vegetables!” Jisung growled loudly.

“Stupid, spastic cow! Avocadoes are  _ fruits _ , you hear me?  _ FRUITS _ !” Chenle found himself pinned under Jisung, but he used his legs to push up into Jisung’s stomach. Jisung, now angrier than he was before, put his hand over Chenle’s mouth to shush him. 

“You are so goddamn loud? Learn to shut up, will ya?! It’s so annoying, makes me wonder how you even get by in class!” 

“I don’t get by!” 

Suddenly the door was pushed in, and in came Mother with Chenle’s backpack. “Sorry to interrupt… well, whatever the hell  _ that  _ was, but Chenle, honey, I think it’s time for you to go home. It’s really late, so I’ll drive you. Where do you live?” Chenle looked up at Jisung and tightened his lips into a think line. Jisung only shrugged and sat down on his heels, a blank look on his face. 

“Oh no, it’s okay, mother! I live reeeeeeal close by so I’ll just walk home.”

“But honey, it’s almost 11! What if something bad happens to you? What if you get kidnapped?”

“What’s the harm in that? No one would miss me anyway,” Chenle mumbled under his breath. 

“What was that, sweetie?”

Chenle flicked his head up and began to stand. “I said I’ll walk home. Jisung, see you tomorrow!”

“G-good luck on that chemistry test!” Jisung called after the retreating boy. 

“You, too!” 

Everything went silent as Jisung stared at the now-closed door. He sighed, body slumping and tensed muscles relaxing. Was Chenle really not coming back tonight? Thank goodness! He would get his bed to himself. He was having a little party in his mind before a very intentional cough rang through the room. 

“So,” mother started, slightly smirking. “What’s up with you and that boy?”

Jisung sputtered for an answer, amazed that his mom would even  _ suggest  _ such a thing. Jisung was straight, as straight as a board, the straightest boy you would ever meet! How could his mother go and assume such a bogus thing? He so was not gay.

“I-I’m gay!” he shouted, thinking the exact opposite. “I mean, no, that’s not what I meant, I’m STRAIGHT!” 

His mother only tipped her head at him with a knowing smile. “Sure, darling. Keep telling yourself that. I see the way you look at him.” and with that, his mother left the room, the sound of her slippers echoing in Jisung’s mind. 

“ _ The way I look at him? _ ” Jisung swallowed hard. “ _ What does that even mean? _ ” and so Jisung was left alone, in his lonely room, with nothing more than his thoughts to fill the silence. 

“I’m baaaack~” shouted a voice from the window. Jisung turned to catch who it was, then groaned when he realized it was Chenle. 

What a fun night this was going to be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah no chensung smut lol


	7. friday night

“Jisungie? When are you going to take a shower?” Jisung’s mother yelled as the two teenagers laid on his bed. Jisung didn’t say anything for a moment, just stared at Chenle. Moonlight filtered in through the open window, a gentle wintry breeze kissing their cheeks and ruffling their hair. 

“Jisungie, did you fall asleep?” Jisung snapped out of his Chenle-induced trance when he heard soft footfalls coming towards his door from the hallway. 

“No, mom! I’m about to get in the shower, hold on a second!” Jisung exclaimed, jumping up from the bed. He motioned for Chenle to get up too, and when he did, he checked the hall to make sure no one was there. He lead Chenle to the bathroom and snatched 2 towels from the rack outside the door and shoved Chenle inside, along with himself. 

“Sungie,” Chenle called quietly. “I already took a shower today, I don’t need one,” Chenle said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Jisung looked at him for a few seconds before smiling awkwardly. 

“I _knew_ that.” Jisung set down both of the towels on the toilet seat and started to undress. Chenle shielded his eyes. “Well, since you’re here, you might as well keep me company,”

“That’s weird,” Chenle backed himself up against the wall as Jisung turned on the shower. “You’re weird,” when Jisung had finally got in the shower, Chenle uncovered his eyes. 

Well, turns out he wasn’t completely in the shower because, wow, is that a very naked and very muscular Jisung right in from of him? Chenle let out a yelp and turned all the way around, the image of… well, **_that_ ** ingrained in his vision. “Oh, my God!” 

“What?”

“N-n-n-nothing! I didn’t… I didn’t say anything!” Chenle’s whole face was flushed a dark pink, and his eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. “Let’s just talk! Do we actually have a test in Chemistry?” 

“Do you even take Chemistry?” Jisung asked pointedly. 

“Well…”

“That’s what I thought,” the two of them shut their mouths and just listened to the running of the water. 

Chenle’s mind went back to _that_ day, that fateful day about a week or two ago. Where his parents found his twitter account, found out he was gay, and all but kicked him out of the house. He remembered how scrutinizing and cold their gazes were, how steely their voices were, how bitter, icy, and distant their touches were. He remembered the salty tears staining his cheeks and how hard it was to breathe. He remembered the loneliness he felt, the isolation. 

But that all changed when he met Jisung. Though they barely know each other, Chenle is already so attached. The boy had helped him countless times already; by treating his wounds, being his partner for class (which didn’t turn out too good, but oh well), letting him be on his volleyball team, and staying with him in the nurse’s office. Most importantly, he let a stranger live at his house with him, sleep in his bed with him. 

“What a dumbass,” Chenle said, a fond tone to his voice. 

“Who? You?” Jisung pulled the curtain back a little bit and his eyes landed on Chenle, who was sitting on the floor, criss-cross applesauce. Chenle only rolled his eyes, smiling. 

“No, you.” Chenle pointed his finger at the boy before him. “But Jisungie,”

“What is it?” Jisung continued to stare. 

“Thank you. Seriously, thank you. Just… goddammit,” tears started to sting Chenle’s waterline. What the hell was he doing, being all emotional and shit?

“Woah, woah, are you okay? Why are you crying?” Jisung heard the loud sobs of Chenle as he was washing his hair. He would’ve gotten out of the shower to hug him but then Chenle would be soaking wet, and Jisung was _naked._ He tried to sound as concerned and caring as possible, but to him, it sounded corny and like acting. 

“I-I’m not crying! I just… it was quiet and my brain went places I never want it to go again. Just, reminding me of hurtful stuff, and making me cry like a baby,” Chenle wiped away his tears with the heel of his hand, but the tears just kept coming. 

“Chenle, you _are_ a baby,”

“Says the one who’s younger than me,” the room went silent again, and Chenle willed his mind to stop thinking about _that_. But, it didn’t quite work, so he sobbed harder. 

Then, a sweet, deep, pleasant voice filled the room. Jisung was singing? 

“This idiot, my darling,” Chenle recognized the cute words and his heart melted. Jisung continued to sing, not wanting to hear Chenle’s pathetic little whines and wails anymore. He quickly changed the song, singing, “Before we hit the road if you ain’t ready to go ohhh just tell me that you’re sure you’re suuure,”

(pls I love that song)

Chenle hummed along, not sure what the song was. He liked the melody though. 

“You better now?” Jisung turned off the shower and asked. 

“Yes,” Chenle, already knowing Jisung would need a towel, picked it up and thrust it through the curtains. 

“Thanks,” Chenle returned to his wall and faced it, putting his hands around his peripheral vision. 

* * *

Then they were back to his room, each with a new set of clothes on. Chenle sat at the foot of the bed, kicking his feet and watching Jisung type away on his laptop at his desk. Only a small lamp was on, illuminating the room with a dim, dreamy light. It painted Jisung’s face a pleasing color, accentuating his cute, handsome features. The light from the stars and the moon shone down on Chenle as he stared. 

“Sungie,” Chenle pouted his lips. “What are you doing?”

“I have an essay due in 3 minutes, and II still need to write 2 more paragraphs. Leave me alone,” Jisung all but growled. 

“How boring,” Chenle flopped onto his back and spread his arms and legs like a starfish. “You’re boring,”

“Shut up, Chenle. Let me focus.” 

Chenle only sighed and groaned at Jisung’s seemingly harsh words, scrunching his face together in distaste. He played with the hem of his shirt, pulling out strings and ripping at the fabric. He hated this texture, he scratchy and uncomfortable it was. He preferred softer, fluffier, fuzzier things. He preferred things that were pleasant to the touch, things that reminded him of hugs and kisses and _home_. He preferred pink to the black on his skin, pastel to Jisung’s monochrome closet. 

He grinned up bitterly at the ceiling, gritting his teeth. His hands squeezed the shirt on his chest so hard that his knuckles were starting to turn white. 

“Chenle, are you okay? You look like you wanna murder someone,” suddenly Jisung’s heavenly face was right in front of him, waving a hand to try and get his attention. Chenle flinched and sat up immediately, accidentally hitting his forehead against Jisung’s. 

“Ouch!” Jisung winced, falling onto the bed next to him. “You bitch,” 

Chenle started giggling like a crazy person, curling his legs into his stomach so he looked like a little ball. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” he laughed, staring at the pained look on Jisung’s face. “You look so funny, oh my god,” Chenle gasped for air, turning and burying his face into the pillows. 

“Oh yeah? Well, take this!” Jisung started to tickle Chenle’s sides, triggering even louder cackles and roars from the small boy. They rolled around on the bed, with Chenle trying to escape and Jisung making laugh louder, and louder, and louder until he was screaming and crying with laughter. 

“Stop it, Sungie, stop it! It hurts!” he mewled, feeling like he was about to throw up. Chenle attempted to get away, crawling as quickly as he could. Jisung wrapped his arms around Chenle’s waist and pulled him back into him, light, feathery touches on Chenle’s exposed arms. Chenle’s whole body convulsed as he broke into another fit of laughter. 

“Not gonna happen, pretty boy! I can tickle you _all_ I want,” now they were laughing together, the sound of their chuckles filling the room. Soon after, though, Jisung’s tickles ceasing. Now, Jisung was just holding Chenle close to him, relishing this closeness. He breathed in. He was content, warm, serene, happy, and any other good feeling or emotion that was out there. 

“Lele,” Jisung liked the sound of that nickname. He decided he was going to start using it. “Since tomorrow is Saturday, want to go do something?” 

Chenle perked up at his question and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, please! Let’s go to the mall, the mall, or an ice cream parlor! Or, or we could go to this really really nice tteokbokki place I know. It’s right around here,” Jisung smiled softly and patted Chenle’s head, telling him to settle down. 

“I was thinking we could buy you some clothes,” Jisung looked down at his now ruined and slightly torn up shirt. “‘Cause you don’t seem to like mine,” he snickered. “Well, I was supposed to go grocery shopping tomorrow anyway. Let’s just get some sleep,” Jisung got out of the bed and turned off the light, shutting his laptop. 

“Did you ever finish that essay?” Chenle asked as he felt the space next to him dip and then an arm slung around his shoulder. Jisung sighed. 

“Yeah, I did, but just barely. I doubt that I’ll get any better than a 60 or so. I kind of bullshitted that last paragraph. Why do we even have to write a conclusion every single time anyway? I literally wrote 3 paragraphs telling you about this topic, now I have to summarize everything I _just_ said?” Jisung complained loudly. 

“Aw, poor baby.” Chenle teased. He looked up at Jisung and found Jisung’s eyes already gazing at him, an emotion he had never seen before in Jisung’s eyes. Was that… affection? Not gonna lie, Chenle did like the soft look in his eyes, but it was almost creepy how much Jisung’s eyes shone. 

“Whatever, whatever. Let’s just go to sleep,”

“Didn’t you already say that?”

“I said sleep!” 

So that’s what Chenle did. He listened to Jisung’s steady breathing and leaned into his warmth on that chilly December night. 


	8. mall trip yall!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jisung takes chenle to the mall just as he promised. its fluffy and i dont know how else to summarize this chapter. <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so fucking sorry that this took so long. i was with family all winter break and ive been busy preparing for this band concert collaboration with all the orchestras in my school, both choruses, and my advanced band. ive also been really busy with my OTHER major (im a double major; musical theater and band at my high school) and ive had about a million essays and midterms to finish and ive just been really busy. im so so so so so so so so so sorry!!!!!! i also got a girlfriend and i talk to her WAY too much, and i just caught up with boku no hero academia, my brother is introducing me to about a million new anime and everything is just moving way too fast for me. but its okay because at least i got this out!!! im already in the process of writing the next chapter too. get ready for that one!!! (also my phone is broken lol)

“Jisuuuuuuuuung,” Chenle whined childishly. "When are we getting there?"

The duo was currently walking on the sidewalk at 12 PM on a Saturday, on their way to the mall to buy some clothes for Chenle. Chenle was complaining about the long walk and how his feet hurt, resting his forehead on Jisung's back.

To Jisung, Chenle was the most annoying person he had ever met. Though playing with him was fun, any other time was complete  _ hell _ . (Jisung wasn’t going to admit it, but he still thought Chenle was cute even when he was being annoying.) 

“Haven’t you been here before? Shouldn’t you know how long it takes by now?” Jisung shoved the boy off of him, walking faster to get away from him. Chenle only reattached himself to the taller boy, clingier than ever before. 

Huh. Must be a morning thing.

“We usually take cars to most places. The only place I’ll walk to is school,” Chenle said enthusiastically. “I also haven’t been to this mall in a  _ really  _ long time so I can’t recall how long it took,” Chenle snuggled into Jisung’s back and sighed happily. “You’re really warm, you know?”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Not sure. You’re warm, I’m cold, so boom.”

Jisung rolled his eyes and blew hot air on his hands. “My body might be warm but I sure as hell don’t feel warm,” 

Chenle didn’t respond, just relished in Jisung’s heat and continued to cling to him. Though the silence was awkward, neither of them minded. They walked further on until they finally reached the entrance of the mall. Chenle never let go of Jisung. 

“We’re here, you can un-hug me now,” Jisung commented, nodding his head towards the front doors. Chenle huffed and put some distance between them, rubbing his hands on his neck. 

“I wish I had a scarf,” he whined. 

“Well we only have one and it’s mine! So I’m not giving it to you. Besides, we’re inside now, why do you need a scarf? It’s warm inside,” Jisung said as they stepped inside the automatic doors. He did a little spin while Chenle stared at him. 

“You’re a weirdo. Come on, let’s go!” Chenle ran ahead of him. 

“Such a child, I swear,” Jisung muttered under his breath as he followed Chenle. 

Chenle got excited at every single window he saw, pressing his hands up against the glass and staring with wide eyes. He didn’t know why he was so excited, everything just made him feel so… child-like.

“Jisung, Jisung, can I get this?” 

The duo was inside a random clothing store that they didn’t know the name of, shopping for some items for Chenle. Chenle was pointing at a soft, fluffy pink jacket on the wall with a crazed smile on his face. 

“Depends on how much it is,” Jisung walked over to Chenle and slung an arm around his shoulder. Chenle squinted then gasped. 

“N-Nevermind, that’s way too expensive,” Chenle steered them away from the jacket and continued on with his search in the children’s section. 

“How much was it?”

“$2,675!” 

“Oh yikes,”

A few more hours passed as they walked through the mall and filled their hands with bags. Chenle was starting to get hungry, and by starting I mean he was practically dying of starvation. But he didn’t say anything about it in fear of embarrassing himself. 

“Chenle, let’s go into that store. It has something I think you’d li —”

Chenle’s tummy started to bellow and wail, interrupting Jisung’s sentence. Chenle looked up, embarrassed, face beet-red and eyes wide. Jisung stared into his eyes, then burst out laughing. He held his hands over his mouth to keep mostly quiet for he didn’t want to weird out any other customers. 

“I take it that you’re hungry?” Jisung asked, stretching the arm that wasn’t filled with bag out to touch Chenle’s shoulder. Chenle only nodded in a small manner, looking back down at his shoes. Jisung just continued chuckling as he pushed himself and Chenle through the crowd to get to the escalator. 

“You should’ve said something, you know. Then you wouldn’t have embarrassed yourself like that,” Chenle scrunched his nose up at Jisung’s comment. 

“Well, whatever. I don’t care,”

Jisung turned Chenle just the slightest so that he could look at him. “Hm, didn’t look that way when you’re face was all red and flushed. You sure you don’t care? Don’t you wanna seem cool around me?” 

“Sh-shut it! I so do  _ not _ . I-it shouldn’t even matter to you,” Chenle stammered, tearing his eyes away from Jisung and focusing on the rather expansive food court. There was a bunch of different food stores, like McDonalds, some Japanese place called Mai, Chick-Fil-A, and Panda Express. (the most american chinese food place i know) “Jisung, Sungie!” Chenle tapped Jisung’s arm that was resting on the handrail of the escalator. 

“Yes, Lele?”

Chenle pointed at the Chick-Fil-A excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “I want that! I want it!” 

A faint smile made its way onto Jisung’s face, but on the inside he was suffering. Chenle was going to take all of his allowance! They stepped off of the last of the escalator and sat down in a booth. Jisung silently whipped out his phone and starting scrolling The Gram™. Chenle just sat there, looking around the huge room. He kicked his legs against the front of the seat thing below his legs and pouting. 

“Jisung,” Chenle whined to get his attention. Jisung just laughed out of his nose, watching a cute video of puppies playing around with each other. “Jisuuuung,” still no response. Chenle let out an over exaggerated gasp. Was Jisung  _ ignoring  _ him? The thought revolted him, so once more, he opened his mouth and screamed, “ _ JISUNG! _ ” and still, the boy was focused on his phone screen instead of the boy before him. Chenle growled just the tiniest bit before leaning forward and nipping Jisung’s wrist with his teeth. 

Jisung jumped back, startled, and locked eyes with Chenle. “What the hell are you doing?” Chenle just smiled. The majority of the people around them were staring at them at this point, but neither could be bothered to care. Jisung wiped away the spit from Chenle’s lips on his pants and glared at Chenle. “What do you want?”

Chenle beamed at him. “Food!” he exclaimed happily. Jisung gave him a questioning look before raising his hand in an ‘and?’ kind of motion. 

“You can go get it yourself?”

“No, I can’t! I don’t have my wallet! You’re my sugar daddy today,”

“Pardon?” they were both looking at each other, now blushing. Chenle so desperately wanted to hide his face, but he felt frozen under Jisung’s unwavering gaze. 

“Ha, haha. I did not say a thing. N-now get up and get me my chicken nuggets!” Jisung just sighed and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He kept his eyes on Chenle the whole way to the small little Chick-Fil-A, squinting and knitting his brows together. Chenle kept eye contact as well, but with a small change. His smile was steady and fixed, and he kept doing weird poses that did little things to Jisung’s heart that he pretended he didn’t notice. 

Jisung waited in line for about 4 minutes until it was finally his turn at the register. 

“Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you today?” the older woman behind the counter asked politely. 

“Uh,” Jisung scanned the menu real quick before he decided on what Chenle should get. “Can I get the 8-count chicken nugget please? And a sprite too, please? And also, some fruit.”

“Is that all?”

“That’ll be it. Thanks,” Jisung opened his wallet and saw about 6 dollars left. He cringed as he pulled out the remaining bills and slid them across the counter. 

“Your total is $5.35. Thank you for shopping at Chick-Fil-A!” Just as Jisung was getting ready to leave, the lady grabbed onto his sleeve with a sheepish yet radiant smile. 

“I was watching you with your brother earlier. He truly is the cutest!” Jisung’s eyes almost popped out of his skull. He got the fact that Chenle was cute, of course he was, but she thought they were  _ brothers _ ?

“Oh, no no, we’re not like that,” he quickly dismissed. 

“Ooh! A best friend then?” Jisung was starting to get anxious. The person in line behind him was complaining to their significant other or whoever they were about how long it was taking. He tried to take off again but the lady’s grip on the fabric of his sleeve was too much. 

“Nope! Not that, either,” he glanced back at Chenle who was looking at him with a confused and impatient expression. 

“Don’t tell me,” the lady gasped in delight. “Your  _ boyfriend _ ?!” Jisung, now tired of her, just rolled his eyes and gently pulled her hand off of him. 

“Sure. Sure, he’s my boyfriend. I’ve got to get going. Thanks!” Jisung practically ran back to their booth, sliding his hands down his face in annoyance as he sat down. 

“What’s wrong Sungie?” Chenle tilted his head, and you didn’t hear this from me  _ or  _ Jisung, but man did Jisung think that was adorable. 

“The cashier-lady-woman wouldn’t let me go. Kept asking questions about you. She thought you were cute.” Jisung got out Chenle’s chicken nuggets from the bag and handed it to him. Chenle took a quick look at the aforementioned cashier-lady-woman and snorted. 

“Not interested in the slightest. She’s cute and all, but… just no.” Chenle opened his chicken nuggets up and immediately started to chow down like a pig, not leaving room for pacing himself. 

“Bro, slow down!” Jisung grabbed onto Chenle’s wrist and pinned it down to the table. 

“You underestimate my skill,” Chenle began to eat with one hand, and fast at that.

“You call that skill?” Chenle just rolled his eyes and put down his food. 

“Thirsty,” he mewled, licking his breadcrumb smeared lips. Jisung fished for a napkin from the bottom of the bag and placed it in Chenle’s hand while he sipped ever so gaily on his sprite. Chenle dabbed at his mouth with the napkin until he caught sight of Jisung’s styrofoam cup. “You got a soda and didn’t get me one? Betrayal!” Chenle reached over the table for the delicious drink, but Jisung turned around and hid it between his legs, only the straw visible. (from the sides of him.) “Not fair!” the smaller boy whined, hitting his fists against the curve of Jisung’s back. 

Jisung couldn’t help but laugh into his sprite, spitting what was in his mouth out and hacking like a sick 100-year-old man. He turned around, eyes red from the tears that were about to escape. Chenle just smirked at him and stole the sprite from in between his thighs, and started slurping blithely. Jisung tried not to throw up at him. 

“Lele,” the tips of Jisung’s fingers brushed his cup as he continued to cough. “I literally just spit up  _ all over  _ that straw,” Jisung tried to take it back, but Chenle just carried on with his actions. 

“I don’t care,” Chenle said airily as he broke away from the drink for air. 

“Dude,” Jisung finally managed to snatch the sprite back and set it down on the space next to him. “ _ Gross _ ,”

Chenle bit his bottom lip, attempting not to smile. (which, totally did not work.) “D-does it look like I care?” 

Jisung slid down in his spot and kicked Chenle’s feet. “Whatever, Chenle. After you finish we’re walking home. I’ve got like, 25 cents left.”

“Whaaaat, but I want to shop more!”

Jisung swatted at Chenle and pursed his lips. “Chenle, no!”

“Chenle, yes!” 

My, my, what a mess Jisung has become for Chenle. 


	9. what a night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jisung doesnt want to go home just quite yet, so he asks chenle out on a little 'date'. (well, it wasnt a date in his eyes, but we all know)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> goddamn i am busy as hell

As the duo was walking out the mall, Jisung’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Jisung sat down on a bench and checked his notifications. It was a message from his mom, asking, “why do you have double the amount of clothes than normal? Are you lending clothes to someone?” 

Jisung swiped away the notification and decided that he would deal with it when they got home. For now, he would spend his precious time with Chenle. For some odd reason, he didn’t want to go home. He just wanted to stay out all day with Chenle and have fun with him. Going by his instincts, he turned towards Chenle and perched his hand on the back of Chenle’s freezing neck. 

“Chenle-yah, do you wanna go ice skating?” Jisung asked sweetly, blinking so that his eyes wouldn’t freeze in the unbearable cold. Chenle visibly perked up, shaking like an excited puppy. 

“Yes, yes please! Please, oh Jisung, please, please!” Chenle grabbed onto Jisung’s only available arm, bouncing on his tippy-toes. 

“Oh, my gosh. Chenle, I was the one who offered. You don’t have to squeal like that, ouch, my  _ ear _ ,” Jisung scrunched his nose up in distaste, pinching Chenle’s neck the tiniest bit. Chenle, quite the ticklish and sensitive one, jolted up into Jisung’s hand. He let out a little yelp, eyes widening upon “impact”. 

“‘M sorry,” the shorter boy said in a small voice. Jisung pat the boy on the head with a gentle smile. 

“It’s okay. You can’t help it, can you?”

“Sh-shush. I  _ totally  _ can.” Chenle whipped his head away from Jisung and pouted at the ground. 

“What a tsundere,” Jisung slid his hand down to Chenle’s wrist and squeezed it lightly, eliciting a yap from the boy next to him. Jisung pulled away from him and put his hand back in his jacket pocket, clenching it to keep it warm. “But like, can you ice skate?” 

Chenle smirked, sticking his tongue out of his mouth. “Of course I can!”

Jisung nodded, impressed. 

\--

Uh, yeah no. Chenle was stumbling and crashing and falling all over the ice. 

“I thought you said you could do this!” Jisung yelled aggravatedly, trying to steady Chenle who was trying not to fall. Chenle just whimpered and fell straight on his ass, breathing in sharply. 

“Ouch!” Chenle, being the premium-sized-klutz he is, grabbed onto Jisung’s arms to try and get himself up, but instead dragged Jisung down with him. Jisung was now draped across Chenle’s middle, face stuffed in the ice. “CHENLE I HATE YOU!” 

Jisung screamed, digging his hands into Chenle’s petit thigh. Chenle winced and tried to kick him off, but only moved Jisung so that he was sitting up. Jisung’s face was now settled right above his, nose and cheeks red and rosy with anger and… well probably from how cold the ice was. Jisung moved his hand so that it was hovering over Chenle’s neck, clenching it and unclenching it to see Chenle’s reaction. Chenle flinched away from Jisung’s giant hands, afraid he was about to get choked and die. He hid his face with his own hands and buried his face into them. 

“Lele,” Jisung chuckled, pulling away. “I’m not gonna hurt you!” he detached himself from the smaller boy and watched him unfold. Chenle’s eyes were glassy and sparkling. Was it just the fairy light, or were those… were those tears? Jisung immediately sprung into action and cupped Chenle’s cheeks. He furrowed his eyebrows in concern as he brought his face closer to Chenle’s to examine him. A teardrop rolled down Chenle’s cheek and disappeared into the cracks of Jisung’s fingers. “Oh, my gosh, are you okay, Lele?” Jisung moved his thumb to caress Chenle’s skin, but the boy in front broke out into a smile and started laughing hysterically. 

“So, you  _ do  _ care about me!” Chenle fell forward into Jisung’s chest and laughed his heart out. “I was… I was fake crying. To see your true colors. Turns out you’re one hell of a sweetheart, aren’t you?”

Jisung’s face, still red, was now red from embarrassment. “Sh-shut up. I am not!” 

“Hey! You two kids, get up! You’re causing a traffic jam, dickheads,” a man from right beside them shouted, spitting everywhere. 

“Don’t talk to him like that, asshole!” Jisung cradled Chenle’s head and stuck his tongue out at the man. 

“Shut your mouth, little boy. I will hurt you,”

“Sure, whatever you say,”

Chenle tried to break away from Jisung, his strong, woody scent overwhelming him. “Y-yo, Sungie,” Chenle hit his fists against Jisung’s chest. “Move, move,” Jisung looked down at Chenle and saw him snugged in his coat, breathing heavy. 

“Oi, you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Now let’s just get up, please,” Chenle tugged on Jisung’s scarf and smiled up at him, a toothy grin that set Jisung’s heart on fire. 

“O-okay. Shall we skate?”

“Yes! Let’s learn together, Sungie,” 

Jisung didn’t want to admit it, but in the back of his head he knew. He knew what Chenle was doing to him.

So they got up and slid around the ice a few times before Chenle finally got the hang out it. Now, Jisung was the slightly more awkward one, holding onto Chenles hand with a grip that could kill a bear in a second. Chenle held onto him, though, ignoring the shooting pain that was practically stabbing him. 

“Chenle-yah,” Jisung eyed the shiny ice, the fairy lights from above reflected on the surface. “I’m scared,” 

Chenle just giggled, squeezing Jisung’s hand to try and calm him down. “You’ll be fine, ya big baby. Fallin’ doesn’t even hurt that much, now does it?” Chenle smirked at him. 

“Wha — how would I know th —” Chenle kicked his foot out and tripped the taller boy, laughing to himself. The cold air of the night tickled his skin, but he didn’t care much about it at this point. Jisung dropped onto the ice below them with a loud “oof” and a small cry for help. 

“That’s for not catching me earlier,” Chenle said. 

“You’re still—ugh, ow—salty about that? It wasn’t even my fault that you fell!” Jisung groaned as he curled in on himself, a hot anger boiling in his stomach. “I  _ will  _ get you back for that, mark my words you—you—you, uh—”

Chenle brought himself down to Jisung’s level and grinned mischievously. “What is it? Cat got your tongue?” he poked Jisung’s cheek and rose an eyebrow, a proud look on his face. 

“I’m gonna kill you, Chenle!” Jisung swiftly reached his hands out and grabbed Chenle by the ears, shaking him around and making him dizzy. 

Meanwhile, Chenle screamed like a little kid, wrapping his fingers around Jisung’s wrists to get him off. Must’ve been a sensitive spot, because the younger immediately jerked back and let go of Chenle, shock evident in his eyes. 

“I’m really gonna get you now,” they both got up, and Chenle sped away the moment he could, looking over his shoulder to see Jisung just standing where they last were, a hand on his hip. 

“Sungie?” he called out, slowing down. 

The next thing he knew, he was thrown into the snow outside the ice with a long, warm body on top of his. It was Jisung, giggling to his heart’s content and holding Chenle close. The snow was cold on the back of his head, but seeing Jisung laugh like that, a genuine, beautiful laugh, my Chenle feel all hot and fuzzy on the inside. 

“Sungie, ow,” Chenle patted the boy’s head, scrunching his face together in pain. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, kitten. Are you all right?” Jisung popped his head up to look at Chenle, fingers wrapped around the exposed skin of the boy under him. 

“K-k-k-kitten?” Chenle stammered. 

“Oh, whoops. That just slipped out. Sorry if you um… don’t like it. Or if I made you uncomfortable,” They both sat up, planted firmly into the snow. The moments were filled with awkward silence and shy glances, neither of the two knowing what to say. 

“Do it… do it again, please, Sungie,” Chenle stared down at his hands, which were shaking and fumbling for something to do. 

“Do what?” Jisung tilted his head in confusion, desperately wanting to get up and walk around. 

“Do that… call me that… again, please,” Chenle refused to look up. He was afraid Jisung would be disgusted, disturbed, or anything close to the like. But then he heard Jisung chuckle, just the tiniest chuckle, and he was being pulled to his feet. 

“Okay,  _ kitten _ . Let’s get going, shall we?” Jisung smirked down at him with the prettiest grin. Chenle couldn’t look away. 

“O-okay, Sungie,” 

And so they were off. They took off their skates and put them on one of the benches, not quite sure where they got them or where they were supposed to go. The stars and the moon were twinkling up in the sky, casting a pretty pale light onto them. 

“Anywhere you want to go, Lele?” Jisung asked, warming up his hands in his pocket. He stared up at the sky, wondering why there were no clouds. Usually in this kind of weather, in this kind of month, it would either be raining or snowing. But it was simply empty. 

“I think home would be nice, Jisung,” 

Jisung turned his head to Chenle and saw him staring down at his feet. “Hm? Why no Sungie?” 

“What?” Chenle finally looked up at Jisung, cheeks burning hot. “Do you like it when people call you that?”

“No I only—”

“Oh, I’ll stop then—”

“—like it when  _ you _ call me that, kitten,” 

Chenle’s heart stopped. It stopped, it dropped, it rolled and then it did some sort of ancient dance. His heart was beating like crazy, almost as fast as a high-speed chase. He didn’t know how to control it, nor did he want to control it. (well, part of him did but what was he to do? rip his heart out?) 

“S-Sungie,” Chenle covered his burning cheeks. “All right,” 

So they walked the rest of the way home in silence, looking away from each other and clearing their throats. It was awkward and almost unbearable, but Chenle enjoyed it. When they reached the front door, Chenle stopped. 

“Sungie,” Chenle started, grabbing onto Jisung’s sleeve. “My ankle hurts, a lot,” 

“Aw, poor baby,” Jisung fake smiled. “You can deal with it. It’s not like you broke it,”

“But what if I did?”

“You  _ didn’t _ ,” said Jisung. 

“But what if I  _ did _ ?” Chenle whined, furrowing his eyebrows and trying to make puppy dog eyes at the younger. Jisung just rolled his eyes and tugged Chenle forward until he was up the steps. He didn’t respond, instead he opened the door with his key and prayed that his parents weren’t standing in the hallway. 

“M-mom, dad, I’m home!” Jisung said, a little bit of hesitance in his voice. He peered into the living room where he saw both of his parents sitting on the couch, backs turned to them and watching the ever amusing TV. 

“Welcome home, son!” his dad called back. Jisung quickly hid Chenle behind him when he saw his dad turn his head to look at him. “What were you out doing all day? Pretty odd of you to get back this late, innit?” 

“I-I was just,” Jisung gulped audibly. “I was just out exploring the town a little more… you know, trying to get to know the area,” 

“Jisung,” this time, it was his mother who spoke. “We’ve lived here since you were little. You should know the city already. What were you  _ really  _ doing? And what’s with all those bags in your hands?”   
  


Ah, shoot. Jisung completely forgot about the shopping trip with Chenle today. (as did i, whoopsie) 

“I just, uh, wanted some new clothes! So I went to the mall,” 

“But Jisung, whenever we asked if you wanted anything new you always denied us and said you were fine with what you had now!” Jisung’s mom finally rose from the couch and started walking towards them. 

“Uh oh,” Jisung whispered, low enough so that only Chenle would hear. “Uh—mom! I’m going to go do some homework, don’t come to my room please!” Jisung pushed Chenle further into the hallway and dashed ahead of him, pulling him along. Chenle tried not to make a sound as his hurt ankle pulsed in pain. Jisung slammed the door shut behind them and breathed hard. 

“Holy shit, my heart is beating so fast. That gave me legit anxiety. Would they think it weird if you were over again? If they see you should we say you’re over for a sleepover?” Jisung rested his back against the door and slid down till he was sitting. Chenle smiled sweetly at him and lowered down to his level.

“Calm down. Sungie, I think that’s a great idea. But it can’t happen that much… they’d begin to suspect something if they see me here every weekend. Or, more like having a  _ sleepover  _ ever weekend. Besides, is it a normal thing for guys to have frequent sleepovers with only one person? Is that a normal thing to do?” Chenle placed his hand on Jisung’s shoulder. 

“Oi, you’re rambling,” they stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before breaking eye contact and laughing as quietly as they could. Chenle sat criss-cross-applesauce in front of the younger and retracted his hand. 

“Did you have fun today?” he asked, tilting his head. Jisung smiled the tiniest smile and nodded, looking at his hands in his lap. 

“I had fun,” he looked back at Chenle. “a lot of fun, actually. I’m sorry for being so rude to you when we first met,” 

“What do you mean? When were you rude?” 

“Y’know… I was always picking on you and stuff. I called you annoying and stuff. I mean, I still think you’re annoying but it’s okay cause you’re cute—I mean, I didn’t—I didn’t just say that!” Jisung hid his face. 

“Me? C-cute?” Chenle stared at Jisung for a few moments before covering his cheeks and eyes.

“I-I, well, yeah. Frankly speaking, you’re adorable. Like, really cute. Oh, my god, I can’t believe I just said that to your face.” Jisung looked up at Chenle for a second before going back into his shell. 

“Well, S-Sungie, I think… I think you’re cuter,” 

Jisung unfolded. He looked angry. “You  _ what  _ now?” he grabbed Chenle by the shoulders and brought him close. “You dare say that again and I will  _ not  _ spare your life.” he squeezed hard before he let go, glaring intimidatingly at the smaller boy. “You are the cutest little boy ever. You are so adorable. Like, what kind of person is fine with someone calling them kitten? What kind of person is as adorable as you? You are the only one! You’re so cute!” Jisung practically screamed. 

Chenle tried to bite back a smile but failed and he collapsed into Jisung’s arms. “Ji-Jisung, I have a very important question for you,”

Jisung placed his hand onto Chenle’s hand and pet him gently. “Yes, kitten?”

Chenle gulped. Welp, here goes nothing. 

“Are you… are you completely straight?”


	10. はじめのキス

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chenle and jisung share some confessions on the other side of the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah ha ha yes i speak japanese ;)

Jisung gawked at the boy. What kind of… what kind of question was that? How could someone just come out and say that? Jisung was shocked. He didn’t know what to say. He froze, ceasing his light pet on Chenle’s head. Chenle looked up at him, a concerned look on his face. 

“Was that—uhm, too forward? Too personal? I’m so sorry—”

Jisung pressed a posh finger to Chenle’s lips to shush him and gave him a sweet smile. “No, it’s fine. I’m okay being personal… only with you, though,” 

Chenle’s face went bright red again, but he refused to break eye contact with Jisung. “O-okay. Get personal with me, then,” 

Jisung gulped. That sounded wrong. 

“W-well,” Jisung thought the farthest back he could. Since he was little, he was always attracted to rather… trivial things. Things nobody really cared for, that nobody really knew. He was an odd child for the majority of his life. Then, freshman year of high school came around and he shot up. In height, in popularity, and in attractiveness. Suddenly everyone thought he was hot, brooding, and mysterious. Every single girl was upon him, trying to impress him. He was never interested, though, but he was bored and out of his mind. So he played with them for a little bit before throwing them out like garbage. Breaking people’s hearts healed him up a little bit. But then Jeno came along. He advised him to stop, and at first, he did. Then he got back into it, taking girls on dates that he was never invested in. He always found himself looking at a particular person, a particular boy. And that boy happened to be the one in his arms right now. He thought he was perfect; quiet, cute, and smart. He didn’t really talk to anyone and kept to himself, and that’s what made him so intriguing. At one point he had purple hair, and Jisung always wondered to himself what made the kid do that. He thought his short height was adorable, and his soft voice when answering the teachers’ questions was to die for. Then he got to know him, and somewhere in his heart he knew, he was the one for him. Whenever he saw Chenle’s cheeky and adorable smile, whenever he heard his squeaky laugh, whenever he screamed like a dolphin, whenever he just saw him, he knew. 

He was in love. 

“I don’t… I don’t think so…” Jisung felt his face heating up. Now that he was sure of it, he couldn’t bear to look at Chenle. 

“Hm,” Chenle hummed. “Me neither. In fact, I’m not straight at all. I’m a lil gay boi just lookin’ for some love,” Chenle could hear Jisung’s heart beating as rapidly as a hummingbird’s wings. He held him tighter and breathed in his relaxing scent. 

“I think—I think I’m gay, too,”

“Mmm, that’s nice,” 

They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Jisung finally spoke up again. He looked down at Chenle and saw his eyes closed, tiny hands clasped around each other. “Kitten,”

“Hm?” Chenle squeaked out a sleepy response. 

“Why did your parents kick you out of the house? Are you ready to tell me yet?” Jisung carded his hands through Chenle’s hair. What in the world did Chenle do to make his parents mad enough to kick him out of the house? Was Chenle really such a bad child?

“Do you really wanna know? It’s not that interesting,” Chenle buried himself further into Jisung’s chest, as if embarrassed. 

“Yes, I do wanna know.”

“Well,” Chenle paused to sniffle. “They found out that I’m gay. And they didn’t like that. They said I can either start liking girls or get out… so I left. I didn’t exactly get kicked out, I ran away.”

“No, you got kicked out! They gave you and impossible option and just expected you to stay! If my parents were homophobic  _ I  _ wouldn’t stay either!” Jisung pulled Chenle up to look at him. “Also, the fuck? Why didn’t you say anything before? That must’ve hurt so much,” 

Tears welled up in Chenle’s eyes. “It did,” he tried to blink them away, but the tears just fell. “Frick,” 

“You can cry or cuss, it’s okay,” Jisung swiftly bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “I’m here,”

Chenle let out a loud sob, breathing hard. “I miss them,” he cried. “They were so good to me… I had no right to—” Chenle choked on his words, swallowing hard. “I had no right to—”

Jisung nearly growled. “Stop that. You had every right to do what you did. In fact, they even encouraged it! So, it’s okay, kitten. What you did was  _ okay _ , you hear me? You’re okay,” Jisung held Chenle tighter than he ever did before. 

Chenle couldn’t pull his head up. He just nodded, whispering into Jisung’s chest, “I’m okay. I’m okay, I’m okay…” 

Jisung’s heart had never broken before. At least, not before these moments. Seeing Chenle cry absolutely shattered and tore his pretty little heart apart. Instead of piecing it back together, he consoled the frail boy in his arms, shushing him and rocking him until he seemed to be asleep. 

There was a knock at the door. 

“Jisung, honey, are you all right? We heard crying… was that you?” Jisung’s mom could be heard through the thick wood of the door separating them. Jisung’s eyes widened for a second before he responded. 

“I think you’re hearing things, mom. I haven’t been crying at all. Maybe that was the sound of me screaming over my a million and one assignments,” Jisung joked half-heartedly. 

“You sound sad,” Jisung’s mom paused. “I’m coming in,” 

“N-no, please don’t! I-I-I’m naked!” 

“What, got something to hide? As if I haven’t seen your bare hiney before,” he could hear the scoff in his mother’s voice. 

“No, just, please. Please, don’t…” Jisung lowered his voice and made himself sound a bit submissive, trying to sound small. That seemed to do the trick, because immediately his mother was backing off and making clicking noises with her tongue. 

“Okay, honey. I’ll be back in the morning with your breakfast,” 

Jisung looked down to check if Chenle was still sleeping. (Which, he was, thank goodness. He didn’t want his loud screaming to disturb the peaceful boy.) “M-mom? Could you add some extra eggs and rice? I’ve been feeling really hungry lately. Ya reckon I’m growing again?”

Now that, my dear Jisung, was a very obvious lie. But let’s all pretend we believed it. 

“Oh gosh, Jisung! Soon you’re gonna be over 8 feet tall!”

“I hope not,” Jisung chuckled softly to himself as he played with Chenle’s hair. It was soft and silky, just long enough for it to fall over his eyes in a pretty mask. His soft snores blew his hair out of his face for just a few seconds, so endearingly cute. 

“Don’t worry, Chenle,” Jisung leaned closer to the boy. “Everything’s going to be all right,”

Without thinking, he pressed his lips to Chenle’s plush, shiny ones, not thinking a single thing except  _ Chenle _ .

And that’s when Chenle flinched. The boy seated comfortably in his lap suddenly reared back, shocked eyes staring right at Jisung. 

Well, shit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thats on a healthy mother-son relationship


	11. not an update!!

uh... hey readers :D this isnt a chapter update if u cant tell from the title!! i know i'm being a pussy right now but i havent been in the right state of mind to do anything... like ive been sitting around all day just crying over literally nothing. then i just got a comment on how my writing isnt very good which totally ruined me (and i know my writing is bad, im not trying to make it good, i just like writing) and now i just dont wanna write anymore/right now... like, damn that really hurt. like it was just one comment. why am i reacting this way????? r a h nobodys gonna read this anyway cause there aint no chenji here but whatever i need to get my feelings out. i dont think i will start writing this again until... maybe next weekend?? i have a band concert coming up on tuesday and im really busy with my grades being so low right now. like, i'm failing 3 our of 8 classes :(((((( im so fucking stupid ugh i hate myself. welp, time to go drown myself in haikyuu and tears!!!!!!! see y'all laterrrrrrrrrrrrr

i'll delete this after i get another chapter out!!!! thank you for reading!!!


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